CPB (NYSE:CPF) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $35.14 and traded as high as $38.00. CPB shares last traded at $37.33, with a volume of 226,887 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research upgraded CPB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on CPB in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

CPB Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $961.25 million, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.23 and its 200-day moving average is $35.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. CPB had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $77.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CPB Inc. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. CPB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.18%.

Institutional Trading of CPB

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPF. HoldCo Asset Management LP lifted its stake in CPB by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 2,427,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,643,000 after purchasing an additional 146,547 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CPB by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,079,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,790,000 after buying an additional 24,933 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CPB by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,046,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,602,000 after buying an additional 12,206 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of CPB by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 885,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 88,028 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of CPB in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,926,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

About CPB

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (NYSE: CPF) is a Thailand‐based integrated agro‐industrial and food conglomerate. Headquartered in Bangkok, the company is a subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand Group and has grown into one of the world’s leading producers of livestock feed, meat and seafood products. CPF’s businesses span animal feed milling, animal breeding and hatchery operations, meat and seafood processing, and the distribution of fresh, frozen and value‐added food products.

CPF’s product portfolio includes poultry, swine and aquaculture feed; fresh and frozen chicken and pork; shrimp and other seafood; as well as ready‐to‐eat and ready‐to‐cook food items.