B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) Trading Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS)’s stock price was up 0.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $6.75 and last traded at $6.67. Approximately 217,446 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,102,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.30.

B&G Foods Stock Up 3.2 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $540.66 million, a PE ratio of -19.62 and a beta of 0.54.

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

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently -223.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at B&G Foods

In other news, EVP Scott E. Lerner bought 7,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.57 per share, for a total transaction of $50,004.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Sherrill acquired 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.63 per share, for a total transaction of $464,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 have acquired a total of 90,111 shares of company stock valued at $593,054 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of B&G Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 710,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,739,000 after acquiring an additional 134,937 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of B&G Foods by 3,480.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 379,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 368,799 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of B&G Foods during the second quarter valued at $958,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 3.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 78,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in B&G Foods by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the period. 66.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.