First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Tyson Foods, Inc. $TSN

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 575,331 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,923 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.16% of Tyson Foods worth $32,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Tyson Foods by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,504,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,042,085,000 after acquiring an additional 543,513 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 13,708,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,865,000 after purchasing an additional 444,648 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 91.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 8,956,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,025,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276,884 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,388,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,571,000 after purchasing an additional 122,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 36.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,864,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550,812 shares during the period. 67.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tyson Foods Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of TSN opened at $57.63 on Thursday. Tyson Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.56 and a fifty-two week high of $64.36. The company has a market capitalization of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. Tyson Foods had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Tyson Foods, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Tyson Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Tyson Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Tyson Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TSN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Tyson Foods from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Tyson Foods in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Tyson Foods from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Santander started coverage on Tyson Foods in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Tyson Foods in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tyson Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Curt Calaway sold 6,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $373,965.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,820,529.27. This trade represents a 17.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman John H. Tyson sold 100,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.05, for a total transaction of $5,822,473.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 2,989,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $173,535,540.75. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tyson Foods Profile

Tyson Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock.