Vest Financial LLC Acquires 6,546 Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. $CALM

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) by 15.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,546 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Cal-Maine Foods were worth $4,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CALM. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,322,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 336.5% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 487,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,288,000 after purchasing an additional 375,604 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 315.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 251,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,837,000 after purchasing an additional 190,715 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 13.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,436,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,618,000 after purchasing an additional 170,322 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 23.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 833,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,725,000 after purchasing an additional 158,719 shares during the period. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Cal-Maine Foods news, insider Keira L. Lombardo bought 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.36 per share, with a total value of $258,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,738 shares in the company, valued at $345,241.68. This trade represents a 298.51% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CALM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Cal-Maine Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Lake Street Capital set a $97.00 target price on Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Stephens upped their target price on Cal-Maine Foods from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Cal-Maine Foods from $105.00 to $97.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cal-Maine Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.75.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ CALM opened at $92.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.52. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.55 and a 12 month high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $922.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.62 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 28.86% and a return on equity of 52.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.22%.

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.