Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.49 Per Share

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of 1.489 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This is an increase from Cal-Maine Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02.

Cal-Maine Foods has increased its dividend payment by an average of 340.3% annually over the last three years. Cal-Maine Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 181.7% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Cal-Maine Foods to earn $3.49 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $5.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 170.8%.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

CALM opened at $106.70 on Monday. Cal-Maine Foods has a 12 month low of $54.53 and a 12 month high of $116.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.27. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of -0.11.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $954.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.50 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 20.39% and a return on equity of 33.69%. Cal-Maine Foods’s quarterly revenue was up 82.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cal-Maine Foods will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CALM. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens assumed coverage on Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cal-Maine Foods

In other news, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.97, for a total value of $88,965.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,702,427.17. This trade represents a 1.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

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.