Short Interest in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) Drops By 21.8%

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, a drop of 21.8% from the March 15th total of 6,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Tyson Foods

In other news, Director Noel W. White sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.75, for a total value of $483,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,431.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tyson Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Tyson Foods by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in Tyson Foods by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 25,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Tyson Foods by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Tyson Foods by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Tyson Foods by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.00% of the company’s stock.

Tyson Foods Price Performance

Shares of Tyson Foods stock traded up $0.34 on Monday, hitting $58.12. 2,365,083 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,921,411. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.17. Tyson Foods has a 1-year low of $44.94 and a 1-year high of $63.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.28. Tyson Foods had a positive return on equity of 2.23% and a negative net margin of 1.62%. The business had revenue of $13.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tyson Foods will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tyson Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Tyson Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently -79.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on TSN. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Tyson Foods from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Tyson Foods from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Tyson Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Tyson Foods from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Tyson Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tyson Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.20.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock.