CPB (NYSE:CPF) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $31.10 and traded as high as $32.00. CPB shares last traded at $31.4910, with a volume of 202,131 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CPF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CPB in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CPB from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

CPB Trading Up 3.2%

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $832.62 million, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.10.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.12. CPB had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $76.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.43 million. As a group, analysts expect that CPB Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. CPB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of CPB by 15.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CPB by 1.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 169,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in CPB by 4.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in CPB by 433.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 293,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,932,000 after purchasing an additional 238,367 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in CPB during the 1st quarter worth about $248,000. 88.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.