Cerity Partners LLC Sells 106,617 Shares of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its stake in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) by 73.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,617 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Tyson Foods were worth $2,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Square LLC bought a new position in Tyson Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Tyson Foods by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 46,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,512,000 after buying an additional 3,955 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Tyson Foods by 5,292.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 19,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 19,158 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its stake in Tyson Foods by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 13,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 3,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 109,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,907,000 after purchasing an additional 25,606 shares in the last quarter. 67.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Tyson Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Tyson Foods from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Tyson Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Tyson Foods from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Tyson Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Noel W. White sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.75, for a total value of $483,750.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,115 shares in the company, valued at $1,672,431.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tyson Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:TSN opened at $59.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $56.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.44. Tyson Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.94 and a 52 week high of $63.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.28. Tyson Foods had a negative net margin of 1.62% and a positive return on equity of 2.23%. The company had revenue of $13.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tyson Foods, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Tyson Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Tyson Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently -79.35%.

About Tyson Foods

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.