Short Interest in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) Declines By 21.8%

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,540,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the February 13th total of 7,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tyson Foods

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSN. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Tyson Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Tyson Foods by 3,423.1% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Tyson Foods by 2,478.3% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Tyson Foods during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Tyson Foods by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on TSN. UBS Group began coverage on Tyson Foods in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Stephens raised their price objective on Tyson Foods from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised Tyson Foods from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Tyson Foods from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Tyson Foods from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.10.

Tyson Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of TSN traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,614,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,149,829. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.72. Tyson Foods has a 1 year low of $53.61 and a 1 year high of $66.88.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $13.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.46 billion. Tyson Foods had a return on equity of 6.87% and a net margin of 1.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tyson Foods will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Tyson Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Tyson Foods’s payout ratio is 67.57%.

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.