CPB (NYSE:CPF) Upgraded at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of CPB (NYSE:CPF) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on CPB from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CPB from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.33.

CPB Stock Performance

NYSE:CPF traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.35. The stock had a trading volume of 96,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,792. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.84. CPB has a 1-year low of $25.62 and a 1-year high of $39.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.67.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $72.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.30 million. CPB had a net margin of 21.96% and a return on equity of 13.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CPB will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CPB Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. CPB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.80%.

Institutional Trading of CPB

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPF. Quarry LP grew its position in CPB by 3,169.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of CPB by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CPB during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CPB in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CPB by 35.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. 88.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.