CPB (NYSE:CPF) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.33 and last traded at $39.98, with a volume of 13366 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of CPB in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CPB from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of CPB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.33.

CPB Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.17 and a 200 day moving average of $34.45.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CPB Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. CPB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $64,790,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CPB by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after purchasing an additional 34,591 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of CPB during the 4th quarter valued at $3,171,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of CPB by 102.7% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 45,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 23,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of CPB by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. 88.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.