B&G Foods Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BGS)

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 2,463 call options on the company. This is an increase of 181% compared to the average daily volume of 877 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at B&G Foods

In related news, EVP Scott E. Lerner bought 7,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.57 per share, with a total value of $50,004.27. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,680.35. This represents a 4.02 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Sherrill purchased 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.63 per share, for a total transaction of $464,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 353,084 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,946.92. This represents a 24.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 90,111 shares of company stock valued at $593,054. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of B&G Foods

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in B&G Foods by 34.1% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of B&G Foods by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 248,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in B&G Foods by 3.0% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 55,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in B&G Foods by 12.5% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in B&G Foods by 3.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 78,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.15% of the company’s stock.

B&G Foods Stock Up 9.7 %

BGS opened at $7.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $597.66 million, a P/E ratio of -22.21 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.22. B&G Foods has a twelve month low of $6.12 and a twelve month high of $11.97.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $461.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.82 million. B&G Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.97% and a negative net margin of 1.34%. B&G Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that B&G Foods will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -223.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BGS. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.30.

B&G Foods Company 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.