CPB (NYSE:CPF) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

CPB (NYSE:CPF) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CPB from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Benchmark initiated coverage on CPB in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on CPB from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

CPB Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CPF opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.34. CPB has a 52-week low of $25.62 and a 52-week high of $40.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 0.84.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $77.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.69 million. CPB had a return on equity of 14.20% and a net margin of 22.52%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CPB will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of CPB

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPF. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CPB by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 13,499 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of CPB by 27.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 83,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 18,269 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of CPB during the first quarter valued at about $688,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in CPB by 8.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 130,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,158,000 after purchasing an additional 10,198 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in CPB by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 52,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after buying an additional 13,791 shares in the last quarter. 88.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.