Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $55.81, but opened at $52.16. Tyson Foods shares last traded at $52.8350, with a volume of 1,024,890 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on TSN. HSBC lowered their price objective on Tyson Foods from $74.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Tyson Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Tyson Foods from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Tyson Foods from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Tyson Foods from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.67.

Tyson Foods Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.38.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Tyson Foods had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 1.03%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Tyson Foods, Inc. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Tyson Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Tyson Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.93%.

Institutional Trading of Tyson Foods

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Tyson Foods by 5,655.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,780,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,162,000 after purchasing an additional 18,453,808 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 17,155,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,099,167,000 after buying an additional 1,845,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Tyson Foods by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,075,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,309,000 after buying an additional 85,282 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Tyson Foods by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,114,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,669,000 after buying an additional 1,387,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,055,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,995,000 after buying an additional 83,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.00% of the company’s stock.

Tyson Foods Company Profile

Tyson Foods, Inc (NYSE: TSN) is a multinational food company primarily engaged in the production, processing and marketing of protein-based and prepared food products. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company is one of the world’s largest processors of chicken, beef and pork. Its operations span live animal procurement and farming relationships through slaughter, further processing and distribution, supplying raw protein and value-added prepared foods to retail, foodservice and industrial customers.

The company’s product portfolio covers fresh and frozen meats, branded and private-label prepared foods, and a range of value-added items such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals, snack and sandwich meats.