Wall Street Zen Upgrades Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Neogen from “hold” to “buy,” adding to a mixed analyst picture that currently includes two Buy ratings, three Hold ratings, and one Sell rating, with a consensus target of $10.67.
• Neogen reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.09 versus estimates of $0.04 and revenue of $211.2 million, which also topped forecasts despite a 4.4% year-over-year decline.
• The stock traded down 2.2% to $9.05, while institutional investors remained heavily involved, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 96.73% of shares outstanding.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.00 price target (up from $6.50) on shares of Neogen in a report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Neogen in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 price target (up from $8.00) on shares of Neogen in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Neogen in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.67.

Neogen Trading Down 2.2%

Neogen stock opened at $9.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Neogen has a 52 week low of $4.53 and a 52 week high of $11.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.47.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 9th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.05. Neogen had a positive return on equity of 2.35% and a negative net margin of 69.93%.The company had revenue of $211.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.62 million. The firm's revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Neogen will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Neogen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Neogen by 23.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,132,021 shares of the company's stock worth $84,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,767 shares in the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the first quarter worth approximately $4,630,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Neogen by 160,972.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,565,625 shares of the company's stock worth $14,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,653 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the first quarter worth approximately $1,172,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Neogen by 2.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,057,248 shares of the company's stock worth $9,822,000 after purchasing an additional 21,481 shares in the last quarter. 96.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Neogen

Neogen Corporation is a global provider of food and animal safety products, offering a broad portfolio of diagnostic and testing solutions. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, the company develops and manufactures tests designed to detect foodborne pathogens, allergens and toxins in food, beverage and environmental samples. Since its founding in 1982, Neogen has focused on delivering rapid, accurate and user‐friendly assays to food processors, grain handlers and quality laboratories around the world.

In the food safety arena, Neogen's product lineup includes immunoassay kits, molecular diagnostics and enrichment media for pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and E.

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