Why Omega Protein Corporation Shares Dropped
Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Omega Protein Corporation were breaking down today, falling as much as 14% after getting downgraded by Imperial Capital.
So what: Imperial lowered its rating on the maker of omega-3 fish oils from outperform to neutral on a valuation basis, saying shares have jumped 59% since the company released third-quarter results three weeks ago and have doubled since the beginning of the year. Imperial maintained its price target of $15, indicating that the downgrade is only reflective of the gains in the share price. The investment firm also said it had no ability to predict the 2014 fish catch as well as other factors that will determine Omega's performance next year.
Now what: In its last earnings report, the fish-product specialist crushed earnings estimates, posting a profit of $0.66 per share against expectations of $0.37. However, that spike came from little revenue growth and was mainly due to strong pricing and yields in the company's animal nutrition segment. As Imperial alluded, the strong results have little impact on next year, so perhaps it seems fair for the stock to cool off after such a large jump. The downgrade is certainly not a sell sign, but investors probably shouldn't get used to such dramatic runs in the share price.
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The article Why Omega Protein Corporation Shares Dropped originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Omega Protein. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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