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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Lake Street Capital reduced their price objective on Calavo Growers from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Calavo Growers Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Calavo Growers stock opened at $22.90 on Tuesday. Calavo Growers has a 12-month low of $20.30 and a 12-month high of $30.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.47 million, a P/E ratio of -381.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.25). Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 9.66% and a negative net margin of 0.16%. The firm had revenue of $169.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.33) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.15%.

Insider Transactions at Calavo Growers

In other news, EVP Michael A. Browne bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.69 per share, for a total transaction of $142,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $177,675. The trade was a 400.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Calavo Growers during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Company Profile

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.