Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) Short Interest Up 22.0% in November

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,370,000 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the October 31st total of 4,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tyson Foods

In other news, insider Wes Morris sold 25,080 shares of Tyson Foods stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.71, for a total transaction of $1,622,926.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,543.75. The trade was a 70.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noel W. White sold 171,057 shares of Tyson Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $10,896,330.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,602.30. The trade was a 82.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 414,814 shares of company stock valued at $26,450,955 over the last three months. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tyson Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSN. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Tyson Foods by 23.1% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 74,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 14,033 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Tyson Foods in the first quarter valued at $8,255,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 639.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 92,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,451,000 after buying an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 149.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 11,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 1.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,270,000 after buying an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. 67.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TSN shares. Stephens lifted their price target on Tyson Foods from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Tyson Foods from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Tyson Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Tyson Foods from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Tyson Foods from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tyson Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.67.

Tyson Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TSN traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $64.28. 579,425 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,460,490. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.02. The firm has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. Tyson Foods has a twelve month low of $47.92 and a twelve month high of $66.88.

Tyson Foods Company Profile

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.