Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Short Interest Down 12.4% in August

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, a decrease of 12.4% from the August 15th total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 529,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CALM traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.95. 484,822 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 596,440. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.83. Cal-Maine Foods has a 1-year low of $42.25 and a 1-year high of $72.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of -0.10.

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

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cal-Maine Foods

In related news, Director James E. Poole sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 10,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director James E. Poole sold 1,500 shares of Cal-Maine Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total value of $105,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,170 shares in the company, valued at $718,510.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Todd Walters sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.20, for a total value of $210,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,310 shares in the company, valued at $372,762. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $422,970 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CALM. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 239,587 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,750,000 after purchasing an additional 66,435 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 65.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 55,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,258,000 after purchasing an additional 21,956 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 362.8% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 12,387 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 valued at $45,353,000 after acquiring an additional 697,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP boosted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 95.2% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 26,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 13,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, 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.

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.