Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) Shares Climb 12% After Analyst Upgrade

Seneca Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:SENEA)’s share price traded up 12% during trading on Monday after Freedom Broker upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Freedom Broker now has a $202.00 price target on the stock. Seneca Foods traded as high as $169.80 and last traded at $169.18. Approximately 20,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 103,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.04.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Seneca Foods from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Seneca Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Seneca Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Dean Erstad sold 1,587 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $327,175.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,551.44. This represents a 72.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Seneca Foods

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Seneca Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $722,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Seneca Foods by 30.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 57,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,685,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in Seneca Foods by 187.7% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 14,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 9,190 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Seneca Foods in the second quarter worth about $1,808,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Seneca Foods by 160.8% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 5,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.51% of the company’s stock.

Seneca Foods Trading Up 12.0%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Seneca Foods shares are set to split on the morning of Tuesday, November 17th. The 5-1 split was recently announced. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, November 16th.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $5.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $1.25. The firm had revenue of $492.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $506.00 million. Seneca Foods had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.73%.

Seneca Foods Company Profile

Seneca Foods Corporation is a U.S.-based food processor and producer of packaged fruits and vegetables. The company supplies retail, food service, industrial and government customers with canned, frozen and prepared foods, including vegetables, fruits, applesauce, snack products and ingredients.

Seneca markets products under brands including Seneca, Libby’s, Green Giant, Aunt Nellie’s, READ and CherryMan, while also producing private-label goods for retailers and other food companies. Its product portfolio includes canned and frozen vegetables, fruit products, shelf-stable meals and ingredients used by commercial food manufacturers.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Marion, New York, Seneca operates processing and distribution facilities primarily in the United States and sources agricultural products from North American growing regions.