Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,648 Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,171 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,648 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Cal-Maine Foods worth $20,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,905,606 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $504,885,000 after acquiring an additional 118,162 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,266,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $130,361,000 after acquiring an additional 143,189 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 998,844 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $102,801,000 after acquiring an additional 104,512 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 674,335 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,403,000 after acquiring an additional 253,310 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 644,130 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $66,294,000 after acquiring an additional 22,939 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cal-Maine Foods news, insider Adolphus B. Baker sold 1,287,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.60, for a total transaction of $116,658,009.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,702,853 shares in the company, valued at $154,278,481.80. This trade represents a 43.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 13.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.52. The stock had a trading volume of 701,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,006. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.70 and a 200-day moving average of $97.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.17. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.69 and a 12-month high of $116.41.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The basic materials company reported $10.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.79 by $4.59. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 26.08% and a return on equity of 48.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $953.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 101.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CALM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Cal-Maine Foods to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Cal-Maine Foods Profile

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. The company offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, and 4Grain brand names.