B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) gapped up before the market opened on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $6.49, but opened at $6.99. B&G Foods shares last traded at $6.76, with a volume of 554,340 shares trading hands.

Specifically, EVP Scott E. Lerner bought 7,611 shares of B&G Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.57 per share, with a total value of $50,004.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,680.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen Sherrill acquired 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.63 per share, with a total value of $464,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 353,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,946.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on BGS shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.30.

B&G Foods Stock Up 3.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $533.93 million, a PE ratio of -19.84 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $8.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 1.34% and a positive return on equity of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $461.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B&G Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.27%. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -223.52%.

Institutional Trading of B&G Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BGS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in B&G Foods by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 19,277 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of B&G Foods by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of B&G Foods by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,623 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of B&G Foods by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 46,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 6,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in B&G Foods by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 155,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the period. 66.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

B&G Foods Company Profile

B&G Foods, Inc manufactures, sells, and distributes a portfolio of shelf-stable and frozen foods, and household products in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company's products include frozen and canned vegetables, vegetables, canola and other cooking oils, vegetable shortening, cooking sprays, oatmeal and other hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, wine vinegar, maple syrups, molasses, salad dressings, pizza crusts, Mexican-style sauces, dry soups, taco shells and kits, salsas, pickles, peppers, tomato-based products, crackers, baking powder and soda, corn starch, nut clusters, and other specialty products.