Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Increases Dividend to $1.49 Per Share

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date 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 124.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities 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 $4.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 116.9%.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CALM traded up $1.11 on Wednesday, reaching $104.79. 1,439,926 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 753,538. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of -0.11. Cal-Maine Foods has a fifty-two week low of $53.38 and a fifty-two week high of $114.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.25 and a 200 day moving average of $81.91.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.42. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 16.09% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company had revenue of $954.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Cal-Maine Foods’s revenue was up 82.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CALM shares. Stephens began coverage on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Cal-Maine Foods Company Profile

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.