CPB (NYSE:CPF) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CPF. 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Benchmark initiated coverage on CPB in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research raised CPB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.33.

CPB Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.69 million. CPB had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 14.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CPB Inc. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. CPB’s payout ratio is presently 37.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in CPB by 3,169.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in CPB by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in CPB in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CPB during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CPB by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. 88.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.