Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Short Interest Up 14.7% in January

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the January 15th total of 3,750,000 shares. Approximately 10.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 653,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CALM traded down $1.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.05. 985,114 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 936,778. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01 and a beta of -0.12. Cal-Maine Foods has a 52-week low of $54.88 and a 52-week high of $116.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.24 and its 200-day moving average is $91.00.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $954.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.50 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 33.69% and a net margin of 20.39%. The firm's revenue was up 82.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cal-Maine Foods will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 809 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.97, for a total transaction of $88,965.73. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,761 shares in the company, valued at $4,702,427.17. This 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. Company insiders own 13.45% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CALM. Man Group plc raised its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 258.7% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 582,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,973,000 after purchasing an additional 420,247 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 515.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 477,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,142,000 after purchasing an additional 399,848 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 674,335 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $69,403,000 after purchasing an additional 253,310 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 88.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 340,155 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,457,000 after purchasing an additional 159,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,266,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $130,361,000 after purchasing an additional 143,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

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.