Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the March 31st total of 967,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 174,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Calavo Growers Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CVGW opened at $28.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $506.77 million, a P/E ratio of -43.14 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Calavo Growers has a 1 year low of $21.42 and a 1 year high of $38.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.96.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.18). Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a positive return on equity of 0.49%. The business had revenue of $127.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $254.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is -60.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at about $262,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the third quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Calavo Growers in the third quarter worth about $275,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Calavo Growers in a report on Wednesday, January 17th.

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 Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.