B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) EVP Martin Schoch Sells 11,321 Shares

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) EVP Martin Schoch sold 11,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.40, for a total transaction of $61,133.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,473.80. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

B&G Foods Price Performance

NYSE:BGS traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.22. 1,019,527 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,224,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 3.32. The company has a market cap of $417.04 million, a PE ratio of -9.69 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.60. B&G Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.67 and a 1 year high of $7.49.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 2.37% and a positive return on equity of 8.43%. The company had revenue of $539.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

B&G Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. B&G Foods’s dividend payout ratio is -140.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B&G Foods

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in B&G Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 17,542 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of B&G Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $169,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of B&G Foods by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 395,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 75,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of B&G Foods by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 44,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 11,984 shares during the last quarter. 66.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BGS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of B&G Foods in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore set a $5.00 price objective on B&G Foods in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen restated a “sell” rating on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of B&G Foods from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.70.

About B&G Foods

B&G Foods, Inc is a packaged foods holding company that develops, markets and distributes a diversified portfolio of branded shelf-stable and frozen food products. Headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, the company serves retail and foodservice customers across the United States and Canada. Through its network of manufacturing facilities, third-party co-packers and distribution partners, B&G Foods supplies grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores and e-commerce platforms.

The company’s product portfolio spans multiple categories, including vegetables, beans, soups, sauces and condiments, snacks, cereals and refrigerated or frozen offerings.