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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

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

Calavo Growers Price Performance

NASDAQ:CVGW opened at $24.06 on Friday. Calavo Growers has a 12-month low of $20.30 and a 12-month high of $30.58. The firm has a market cap of $429.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -401.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

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

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Calavo Growers during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. 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.