Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Separately, Lake Street Capital lowered their price target on Calavo Growers from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Shares of Calavo Growers stock opened at $23.99 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.68. Calavo Growers has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $30.58. The company has a market capitalization of $427.91 million, a PE ratio of -399.83 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Calavo Growers by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 42.3% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Calavo Growers during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.