CPB Inc. $CPF Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) by 2.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,054,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,086 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.08% of CPB worth $62,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CPB during the second quarter worth $30,767,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in CPB by 335.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 86,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after buying an additional 66,642 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CPB by 86.2% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 75,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after buying an additional 34,911 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in CPB by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 745,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,898,000 after buying an additional 36,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in CPB during the 2nd quarter worth about $231,000. 88.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CPF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CPB in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CPB from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

CPB Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CPF opened at $31.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.08. CPB Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.16 and a 12 month high of $35.01. 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 has a market capitalization of $825.77 million, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.95.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.12. CPB had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $76.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CPB Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. CPB’s payout ratio is currently 40.56%.

CPB Company Profile

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.