Brokerages Set B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) Target Price at $8.30

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.30.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BGS shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at B&G Foods

In other news, EVP Jordan E. Greenberg sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.33, for a total value of $66,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,571.35. This represents a 10.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Sherrill bought 70,000 shares of B&G Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.63 per share, for a total transaction of $464,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 353,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,946.92. This trade represents a 24.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 85,111 shares of company stock worth $561,804 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B&G Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of B&G Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of B&G Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 1,556.9% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in B&G Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 66.15% of the company’s stock.

B&G Foods Price Performance

BGS stock opened at $6.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. B&G Foods has a one year low of $6.20 and a one year high of $11.97. The stock has a market cap of $491.58 million, a PE ratio of -18.26 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.57.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $461.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts predict that B&G Foods will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.24%. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently -223.52%.

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.