Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Upgraded at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on Calavo Growers from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Calavo Growers presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CVGW opened at $27.37 on Thursday. Calavo Growers has a fifty-two week low of $21.46 and a fifty-two week high of $30.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $488.64 million, a PE ratio of 31.10 and a beta of 0.39.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.03. Calavo Growers had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 2.28%.The firm had revenue of $178.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Calavo Growers’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVGW. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Calavo Growers during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,364,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 1,873.8% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 226,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 215,303 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 588.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 236,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 202,221 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 275,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,608,000 after purchasing an additional 131,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,102,000. 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.