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

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM opened at $109.97 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.59 and a 200-day moving average of $83.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of -0.11. Cal-Maine Foods has a 1-year low of $53.38 and a 1-year high of $114.06.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.42. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 16.09%. The company had revenue of $954.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 82.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods will post 8.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cal-Maine Foods

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 88.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 340,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,457,000 after buying an additional 159,787 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 652.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 160,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,997,000 after purchasing an additional 139,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,863,000 after buying an additional 114,995 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cal-Maine Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,810,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 130.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 132,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,913,000 after buying an additional 75,090 shares in the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.