Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Up 1.8 %

CALM stock opened at $93.08 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.90. Cal-Maine Foods has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $116.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.24 and a beta of -0.12.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.42. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 20.39% and a return on equity of 33.69%. The business had revenue of $954.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 82.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Cal-Maine Foods will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 809 shares of Cal-Maine Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.97, for a total value of $88,965.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,761 shares in the company, valued at $4,702,427.17. The trade was a 1.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,905,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $504,885,000 after buying an additional 118,162 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,609,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,447,000 after purchasing an additional 46,187 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,266,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,361,000 after purchasing an additional 143,189 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 998,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,801,000 after purchasing an additional 104,512 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 988,599 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,000,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.67% of the company’s stock.

About Cal-Maine Foods

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.