Short Interest in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Rises By 11.4%

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,050,000 shares, an increase of 11.4% from the August 31st total of 1,840,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 497,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insider Activity at Cal-Maine Foods

In related news, Director James E. Poole sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total transaction of $105,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,170 shares in the company, valued at $718,510.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director James E. Poole sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total transaction of $105,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,170 shares in the company, valued at $718,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Todd Walters sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.20, for a total transaction of $210,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,762. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $422,970. 13.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,771,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 748.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 790,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,353,000 after purchasing an additional 697,170 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 4.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,863,000 after buying an additional 114,995 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 5.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,115,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,286,000 after buying an additional 110,900 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 129.0% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 154,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,076,000 after buying an additional 86,870 shares in the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ CALM traded up $1.34 on Tuesday, hitting $76.18. 201,553 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 598,724. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.94. Cal-Maine Foods has a 12 month low of $42.25 and a 12 month high of $76.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of -0.10.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.41 by ($0.09). Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 16.46% and a net margin of 11.94%. The firm had revenue of $640.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $652.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Cal-Maine Foods’s payout ratio is 54.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th.

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.