Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Shares of CVGW opened at $26.17 on Thursday. Calavo Growers has a 1 year low of $20.30 and a 1 year high of $30.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.79 million, a P/E ratio of -436.17 and a beta of 0.41.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.15%.

Insider Activity at Calavo Growers

In other news, EVP Michael A. Browne purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.69 per share, for a total transaction of $142,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $177,675. This represents a 400.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lecil E. Cole purchased 21,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.73 per share, with a total value of $499,991.10. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 536,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,720,941.10. The trade was a 4.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 73,438 shares of company stock valued at $1,771,303 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in Calavo Growers by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,663,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,420,000 after buying an additional 26,546 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,148,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,287,000 after acquiring an additional 22,777 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,817,000 after acquiring an additional 34,263 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Calavo Growers by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 445,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,368,000 after purchasing an additional 94,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Calavo Growers by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 335,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,566,000 after purchasing an additional 21,584 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Calavo Growers Company Profile

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.