Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM – Get Rating) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Cal-Maine Foods were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 42,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after buying an additional 13,302 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 432.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 73,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,006,000 after buying an additional 59,759 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 126,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,959,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.78% of the company’s stock.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Up 0.4 %

CALM stock opened at $47.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.06 and a 200-day moving average of $55.59. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.96 and a 12-month high of $65.32. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.09, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of -0.04.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $6.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by $1.53. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 24.82% and a return on equity of 58.83%. The company had revenue of $997.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $898.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 108.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 16.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cal-Maine Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th were given a dividend of $2.20 per share. This represents a $8.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.35%. This is an increase from Cal-Maine Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 25th. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles Jeff Hardin sold 1,201 shares of Cal-Maine Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $72,240.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $252,269.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CALM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Stephens downgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th.

About Cal-Maine Foods

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Cal-Maine Foods, Inc engages in the production, grading, packing, marketing, and distribution of fresh shell eggs. The firm operates farms, processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills, warehouses, offices and other properties. It markets shell eggs to national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, foodservice distributors, and egg product manufacturers.