Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Lake Street Capital increased their price target on Calavo Growers from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 7th.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

CVGW stock opened at $28.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $506.69 million, a P/E ratio of -129.68 and a beta of 0.72. Calavo Growers has a twelve month low of $22.64 and a twelve month high of $38.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 2.85% and a negative net margin of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $259.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Calavo Growers will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 26th. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is -181.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Calavo Growers news, Director Steve Hollister acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.59 per share, for a total transaction of $61,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,714.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Calavo Growers news, CEO Lecil E. Cole acquired 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.94 per share, for a total transaction of $1,122,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 477,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,296,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steve Hollister acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.59 per share, with a total value of $61,180.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,714.18. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVGW. Dean Capital Management acquired a new position in Calavo Growers during the 2nd quarter worth $646,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers during the second quarter worth $1,080,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in Calavo Growers by 6.0% during the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 5,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Calavo Growers during the second quarter valued at $646,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Calavo Growers by 34.2% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.40% of the company’s stock.

About Calavo Growers

Calavo Growers, Inc markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through two segments, Grown and Prepared. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.