B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) Trading Down 2% – Time to Sell?

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) shares were down 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $7.27 and last traded at $7.41. Approximately 283,931 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,120,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BGS. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on B&G Foods from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of B&G Foods from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.30.

B&G Foods Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.22. 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 company has a market capitalization of $608.74 million, a P/E ratio of -21.79 and a beta of 0.54.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $461.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.82 million. B&G Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.97% and a negative net margin of 1.34%. The company’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

B&G Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. B&G Foods’s payout ratio is -223.52%.

Insider Transactions at B&G Foods

In other news, Director Stephen Sherrill acquired 70,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 353,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,340,946.92. This trade represents a 24.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric H. Hart bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.25 per share, for a total transaction of $31,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 88,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $555,618.75. This trade represents a 5.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 90,111 shares of company stock valued at $593,054. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of B&G Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of B&G Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in B&G Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of B&G Foods during the third quarter worth $102,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 99.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 7,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of B&G Foods during the second quarter worth $137,000. Institutional investors own 66.15% of the company’s stock.

About B&G Foods

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.