Short Interest in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE:FDP) Rises By 11.0%

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE:FDP) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 385,700 shares, an increase of 11.0% from the October 15th total of 347,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 261,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresh Del Monte Produce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 29,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 27,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 232.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Stock Performance

Shares of FDP opened at $33.78 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 102.37 and a beta of 0.41. Fresh Del Monte Produce has a 52-week low of $21.23 and a 52-week high of $35.27.

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $989.45 million. Fresh Del Monte Produce had a net margin of 0.36% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Fresh Del Monte Produce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 303.04%.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Company Profile

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc, through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services.