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

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

Separately, Lake Street Capital dropped 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 Stock Performance

Shares of CVGW stock opened at $22.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $408.47 million, a PE ratio of -381.67 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.30 and a 200-day moving average of $25.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Calavo Growers has a one year low of $20.30 and a one year high of $30.58.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $169.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.99 million. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 0.16% and a positive return on equity of 9.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.33) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael A. Browne bought 6,000 shares of Calavo Growers stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.69 per share, with a total value of $142,140.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,675. This trade represents a 400.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the fourth quarter worth about $1,371,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 221.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,533,000 after acquiring an additional 85,272 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 338.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 20,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the third quarter worth $746,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% 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 Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.