Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after Lake Street Capital raised their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $45.00. Lake Street Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 128,783 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the previous session’s volume of 148,036 shares.The stock last traded at $30.25 and had previously closed at $32.89.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Calavo Growers in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lecil E. Cole purchased 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.94 per share, with a total value of $1,122,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 477,500 shares in the company, valued at $14,296,350. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Calavo Growers news, CEO Lecil E. Cole bought 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.94 per share, for a total transaction of $1,122,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 477,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,296,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steve Hollister acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.59 per share, for a total transaction of $61,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,122,714.18. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 47.8% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,892,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,461,000 after buying an additional 611,891 shares during the period. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Calavo Growers in the first quarter valued at $14,117,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at $5,537,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 12.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,445,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,678,000 after buying an additional 160,709 shares during the period. Finally, Crown Advisors Management Inc. acquired a new position in Calavo Growers in the first quarter valued at $2,877,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.40% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Trading Down 14.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $499.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -127.64 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.16 and its 200-day moving average is $31.45.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $259.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 26th. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is -181.82%.

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 two segments, Grown and Prepared. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.