Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Increases Stake in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. $CALM

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) by 454.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,703 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Cal-Maine Foods were worth $2,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferson Bridge Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $1,034,000. Steadtrust LLC grew its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Steadtrust LLC now owns 27,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cal-Maine Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM opened at $77.07 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.25. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.32. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.92 and a 52-week high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $666.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.82 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 20.07% and a return on equity of 26.05%. The business’s revenue was down 53.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 20.14%.

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.