Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, a growth of 44.7% from the September 30th total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 568,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert L. Holladay, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $106,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 16,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,361.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cal-Maine Foods news, COO Michael Todd Walters sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.20, for a total value of $210,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,762. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert L. Holladay, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $106,395.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 16,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,361.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 13.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cal-Maine Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CALM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 4.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 114,995 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,115,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,286,000 after purchasing an additional 110,900 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,013,713 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,948,000 after purchasing an additional 82,772 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,810,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 762.0% in the first quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,769,000 after buying an additional 71,629 shares in the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CALM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cal-Maine Foods from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut Cal-Maine Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

CALM traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.20. 405,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,160. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92 and a beta of -0.10. Cal-Maine Foods has a fifty-two week low of $45.07 and a fifty-two week high of $95.06.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.30). Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 16.09%. The company had revenue of $785.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.1% on a year-over-year basis.

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.