B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Time to Sell?

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) shares traded down 1.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $6.67 and last traded at $6.74. 193,354 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 1,098,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, B&G Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.30.

B&G Foods Trading Down 1.6 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $533.54 million, a PE ratio of -19.82 and a beta of 0.54.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $461.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $473.82 million. B&G Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.97% and a negative net margin of 1.34%. B&G Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently -223.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott E. Lerner purchased 7,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.57 per share, with a total value of $50,004.27. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,680.35. This represents a 4.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Sherrill acquired 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.63 per share, for a total transaction of $464,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 353,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,946.92. This represents a 24.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 90,111 shares of company stock worth $593,054 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BGS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in B&G Foods by 33.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,918,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,501,000 after purchasing an additional 485,714 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in B&G Foods by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,803,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,018,000 after buying an additional 24,995 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of B&G Foods by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,640,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,254,000 after buying an additional 682,688 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in B&G Foods by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 5,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 710,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,739,000 after purchasing an additional 134,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.15% of the company’s stock.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc manufactures, sells, and distributes a portfolio of shelf-stable and frozen foods, and household products in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company's products include frozen and canned vegetables, vegetables, canola and other cooking oils, vegetable shortening, cooking sprays, oatmeal and other hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, wine vinegar, maple syrups, molasses, salad dressings, pizza crusts, Mexican-style sauces, dry soups, taco shells and kits, salsas, pickles, peppers, tomato-based products, crackers, baking powder and soda, corn starch, nut clusters, and other specialty products.