Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Short Interest Update

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 741,600 shares, a growth of 66.5% from the September 30th total of 445,300 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 285,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Calavo Growers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Shares of CVGW opened at $26.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.60. Calavo Growers has a fifty-two week low of $20.30 and a fifty-two week high of $31.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.18 million, a PE ratio of -299.11 and a beta of 0.57.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 6.35%. Equities analysts predict that Calavo Growers will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Calavo Growers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is -888.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVGW. SG Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 404,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,243,000 after buying an additional 137,325 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in Calavo Growers by 40.7% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 356,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,088,000 after acquiring an additional 103,024 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Calavo Growers by 4.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Calavo Growers by 111.4% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 60,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 32,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 23.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 15,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.