Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $10.90 and last traded at $10.59, with a volume of 2994914 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NEOG. CJS Securities upgraded Neogen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target (up previously from $6.50) on shares of Neogen in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Neogen in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (up from $8.00) on shares of Neogen in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Neogen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.67.

Neogen Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.91 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.49.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. Neogen had a negative net margin of 68.47% and a positive return on equity of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $224.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Neogen Corporation will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Neogen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Neogen in the 3rd quarter valued at $80,288,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Neogen during the second quarter valued at $43,387,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Neogen by 123.2% in the second quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,005,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,947,000 after purchasing an additional 7,729,650 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Neogen in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,969,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Neogen in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,550,000. 96.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Neogen Company Profile

Neogen Corporation is a global provider of food and animal safety products, offering a broad portfolio of diagnostic and testing solutions. Headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, the company develops and manufactures tests designed to detect foodborne pathogens, allergens and toxins in food, beverage and environmental samples. Since its founding in 1982, Neogen has focused on delivering rapid, accurate and user‐friendly assays to food processors, grain handlers and quality laboratories around the world.

In the food safety arena, Neogen’s product lineup includes immunoassay kits, molecular diagnostics and enrichment media for pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and E.