Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) by 255.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 14,284 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cal-Maine Foods were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CALM. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 48.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 103,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,749,000 after acquiring an additional 33,731 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 30,122 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $584,000. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CALM. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Cal-Maine Foods to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:CALM opened at $93.95 on Wednesday. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.18 and a 52 week high of $116.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.92 and a 200 day moving average of $97.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.18.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The basic materials company reported $10.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $4.59. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 33.69% and a net margin of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $953.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cal-Maine Foods

In other news, insider Adolphus B. Baker sold 140,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.60, for a total transaction of $12,708,099.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,319,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,504,480.40. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.