Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) Trading 5.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Neogen Co. (NASDAQ:NEOG)’s share price traded up 5.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.93 and last traded at $8.93. 1,404,961 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 2,148,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NEOG shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Neogen in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of Neogen in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Neogen Stock Down 3.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.77. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -3.95 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.76.

Neogen (NASDAQ:NEOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.12. Neogen had a negative net margin of 52.12% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The firm had revenue of $231.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Neogen Co. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Neogen news, CEO John Edward Adent acquired 23,035 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.03 per share, with a total value of $254,076.05. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 269,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,968,878.92. The trade was a 9.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David H. Naemura bought 14,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.11 per share, with a total value of $164,428.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,434 shares in the company, valued at $682,531.74. This represents a 31.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Neogen

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Neogen by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Neogen by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,826,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,012,000 after buying an additional 423,923 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Neogen by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 549,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,673,000 after buying an additional 43,621 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Neogen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in Neogen by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 47,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.73% of the company’s stock.

About Neogen

Neogen Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of various products and services dedicated to food and animal safety worldwide. It operates through two segments, Food Safety and Animal Safety. The Food Safety segment offers diagnostic test kits and related products to detect dangerous and unintended substances in food and animal feed, including foodborne pathogens, spoilage organisms, natural toxins, food allergens, genetic modifications, ruminant by-products, meat speciation, drug residues, pesticide residues, and general sanitation concerns; and AccuPoint Advanced rapid sanitation test to detect the presence of adenosine triphosphate, a chemical found in living cells, as well as provides genomics-based diagnostic technology and software systems that help testers to objectively analyze and store their results and perform analysis on the results from multiple locations over extended periods.