Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) Short Interest Down 21.8% in March

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the March 15th total of 6,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noel W. White sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.75, for a total value of $483,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,672,431.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tyson Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Tyson Foods in the first quarter worth about $35,000. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in Tyson Foods by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 127,984 shares of the company's stock worth $7,516,000 after purchasing an additional 40,968 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Tyson Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,044,000. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Tyson Foods by 1.3% in the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 25,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tyson Foods during the first quarter worth $58,000. 67.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tyson Foods Price Performance

TSN stock traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,331,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,055,205. The company has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Tyson Foods has a 1-year low of $44.94 and a 1-year high of $63.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.15.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $13.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.34 billion. Tyson Foods had a negative net margin of 1.62% and a positive return on equity of 2.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Tyson Foods will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Tyson Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Tyson Foods's payout ratio is -79.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TSN. Bank of America raised shares of Tyson Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Tyson Foods from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Tyson Foods from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Tyson Foods from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Tyson Foods from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.20.

Tyson Foods Company Profile

Tyson Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock.