Phocas Financial Corp. Takes Position in TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE:THS)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a 0.23% stake in TreeHouse Foods by purchasing 113,872 shares worth approximately $3.09 million in Q1.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Steven Oakland and Director Jana Partners Management both increasing their stock holdings by over 1%, with Oakland acquiring 4,660 shares for around $100,000.
• Analyst ratings for TreeHouse Foods suggest a consensus "Hold" rating, with recent price targets from various brokerages ranging from $20.00 to $27.00.

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE:THS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 113,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,085,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.23% of TreeHouse Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in TreeHouse Foods by 1,328.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 8,969 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 502,601 shares of the company's stock worth $17,656,000 after buying an additional 28,029 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in TreeHouse Foods by 218.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 166,767 shares of the company's stock worth $5,859,000 after acquiring an additional 114,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in TreeHouse Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on THS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on TreeHouse Foods from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on TreeHouse Foods from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of TreeHouse Foods from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho dropped their price target on TreeHouse Foods from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on TreeHouse Foods from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Oakland acquired 4,660 shares of TreeHouse Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.46 per share, for a total transaction of $100,003.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 369,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,929,920.66. This trade represents a 1.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 17,678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.09 per share, with a total value of $408,185.02. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,482,337 shares in the company, valued at $126,587,161.33. The trade was a 0.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 147,123 shares of company stock valued at $3,234,741. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

TreeHouse Foods Price Performance

Shares of THS traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.41. 160,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 684,665. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $20.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.17. The stock has a market cap of $980.10 million, a PE ratio of 49.74 and a beta of 0.25. TreeHouse Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $43.84.

TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. TreeHouse Foods had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The business had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $788.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that TreeHouse Foods, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

TreeHouse Foods Company Profile

TreeHouse Foods, Inc manufactures and distributes private brands snacks and beverages in the United States and internationally. The company provides snacking products, such as crackers, pretzels, in-store bakery items, frozen griddle items, cookies, and candies; and beverage and drink mixes, including non-dairy creamer, coffee, broths/stocks, powdered beverages and other blends, tea, and ready-to-drink-beverages.