CPB (NYSE:CPF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $40.31 and last traded at $40.03, with a volume of 27672 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

CPB Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.23. 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 has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.84.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. CPB had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 14.20%. The firm had revenue of $77.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CPB Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CPB Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HoldCo Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of CPB by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 2,427,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,643,000 after purchasing an additional 146,547 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CPB by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,079,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,790,000 after buying an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in CPB by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,046,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,602,000 after buying an additional 12,206 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in CPB by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 885,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 88,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in CPB by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 299,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,337,000 after buying an additional 41,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

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.