Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 16,742 Shares of Tyson Foods, Inc. $TSN

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group boosted its stake in Tyson Foods by 81.7%, acquiring 16,742 shares to hold 37,222 shares worth about $2.18 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 67% of the company.
• Tyson reported a quarterly EPS miss ($0.97 vs. $1.01 estimated) on $14.31 billion revenue (up 5.1% YoY) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 (3.2% yield) despite a very high payout ratio (364%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed with a consensus rating of "Hold" (average price target $66.45) even as several firms recently upgraded the stock to overweight/outperform and raised price targets.

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN - Free Report) by 81.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,222 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,742 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Tyson Foods were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TSN. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Tyson Foods by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,726,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,009 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Tyson Foods by 877.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,373,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,574,000 after buying an additional 1,232,835 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in Tyson Foods by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 9,962,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,943,000 after buying an additional 1,005,661 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Tyson Foods by 73.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,879,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,042,000 after buying an additional 795,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its stake in Tyson Foods by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,746,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,814,000 after buying an additional 445,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.00% of the company's stock.

Tyson Foods Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:TSN opened at $64.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.53. Tyson Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.56 and a 52 week high of $66.41. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.44.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.04). Tyson Foods had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 0.36%.The company had revenue of $14.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Tyson Foods, Inc. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tyson Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Tyson Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 364.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on TSN shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Tyson Foods from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Tyson Foods in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Tyson Foods from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Tyson Foods to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Tyson Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.45.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc NYSE: TSN is a multinational food company primarily engaged in the production, processing and marketing of protein-based and prepared food products. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company is one of the world's largest processors of chicken, beef and pork. Its operations span live animal procurement and farming relationships through slaughter, further processing and distribution, supplying raw protein and value-added prepared foods to retail, foodservice and industrial customers.

The company's product portfolio covers fresh and frozen meats, branded and private-label prepared foods, and a range of value-added items such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals, snack and sandwich meats.

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