Short Interest in CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) Rises By 28.3%

CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 517,936 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the February 12th total of 403,763 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 196,688 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 196,688 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

CPB Stock Performance

NYSE CPF traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.63. 204,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 171,406. The company has a market cap of $809.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.95. CPB has a 12-month low of $23.16 and a 12-month high of $35.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.51 and a 200 day moving average of $31.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 21.17%.The company had revenue of $76.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.43 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CPB will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. CPB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of CPB by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CPB by 1.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 169,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 2,731 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in CPB by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in CPB by 433.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 293,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,932,000 after buying an additional 238,367 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in CPB during the first quarter worth about $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.