B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) Shares Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS)’s share price shot up 3.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $7.08 and last traded at $7.12. 370,479 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 1,255,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, B&G Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.10.

B&G Foods Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.62 and a 200-day moving average of $7.37. The stock has a market cap of $570.98 million, a PE ratio of -21.25 and a beta of 0.47.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $551.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.95 million. B&G Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.97% and a negative net margin of 1.34%. Research analysts predict that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently -23.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B&G Foods

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BGS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in B&G Foods by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,353,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,106,000 after buying an additional 744,898 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 113.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 830,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,724,000 after purchasing an additional 441,117 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,132,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 405,033 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 3,480.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 379,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 368,799 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 267.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 480,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 349,619 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.15% of the company’s stock.

B&G Foods Company Profile

B&G Foods, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar.