Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. $CALM

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 26,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,447,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Cal-Maine Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 1,085.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 259,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,414,000 after acquiring an additional 237,566 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 268,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,221,000 after purchasing an additional 16,251 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 1,274.2% in the third quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 30,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 27,930 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods in the third quarter worth $6,488,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 42.2% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 33,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 9,805 shares in the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ CALM opened at $87.12 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.26. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.92 and a 1-year high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $769.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.46 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 44.55% and a net margin of 27.37%.The business’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.47 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Cal-Maine Foods’s payout ratio is currently 12.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CALM shares. Weiss Ratings cut Cal-Maine Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Stephens set a $85.00 target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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. It sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, independent supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.