Short Interest in B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) Drops By 5.6%

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,300,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the May 15th total of 7,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BGS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of B&G Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of B&G Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.50.

Insider Activity at B&G Foods

In other news, Director Stephen Sherrill bought 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.59 per share, for a total transaction of $1,073,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 270,136 shares in the company, valued at $2,320,468.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen Sherrill bought 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.59 per share, for a total transaction of $1,073,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 270,136 shares in the company, valued at $2,320,468.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce C. Wacha purchased 5,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.59 per share, with a total value of $44,668.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 91,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,507.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 141,955 shares of company stock worth $1,218,453 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B&G Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in B&G Foods by 1,556.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in B&G Foods during the first quarter worth about $60,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in B&G Foods by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in B&G Foods by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in B&G Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 66.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

B&G Foods Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BGS opened at $8.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.88 and a 200-day moving average of $10.30. The company has a market cap of $662.44 million, a PE ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 0.61. B&G Foods has a one year low of $7.20 and a one year high of $15.15.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $475.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.93 million. B&G Foods had a positive return on equity of 8.33% and a negative net margin of 5.42%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that B&G Foods will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B&G Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. B&G Foods’s payout ratio is presently -52.78%.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc manufactures, sells, and distributes a portfolio of shelf-stable and frozen foods, and household products in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company's products include frozen and canned vegetables, vegetables, canola and other cooking oils, vegetable shortening, cooking sprays, oatmeal and other hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, wine vinegar, maple syrups, molasses, salad dressings, pizza crusts, Mexican-style sauces, dry soups, taco shells and kits, salsas, pickles, peppers, tomato-based products, crackers, baking powder and soda, corn starch, nut clusters, and other specialty products.