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

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid 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 5.69%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This is a positive change from Cal-Maine Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02.

Cal-Maine Foods has raised its dividend payment by an average of 340.3% annually over the last three years. Cal-Maine Foods has a 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. 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 Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CALM traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.73. 1,823,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 840,516. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $98.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.07. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of -0.11. Cal-Maine Foods has a one year low of $53.38 and a one year high of $114.06.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $954.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.50 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 16.09% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 82.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cal-Maine Foods will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CALM. Stephens began coverage on Cal-Maine Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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.