American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 682,688 Shares of B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,640,354 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 682,688 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.08% of B&G Foods worth $13,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in B&G Foods by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,043,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,453,000 after buying an additional 1,190,116 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,757,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,450,000 after acquiring an additional 181,724 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of B&G Foods by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 5,842 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 601,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,862,000 after purchasing an additional 17,785 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in B&G Foods by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 408,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 19,613 shares in the last quarter. 66.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BGS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on B&G Foods from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of B&G Foods from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of B&G Foods to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded B&G Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, B&G Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.67.

Insider Activity

In other B&G Foods news, EVP Jordan E. Greenberg sold 8,000 shares of B&G Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.33, for a total transaction of $66,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,571.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

B&G Foods Stock Performance

Shares of BGS opened at $9.18 on Friday. B&G Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.20 and a 1-year high of $11.97. The company has a market capitalization of $725.69 million, a P/E ratio of -6.38 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.40.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 5.82% and a positive return on equity of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $444.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.28%. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -52.78%.

B&G Foods Profile

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.