Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) CEO Lecil E. Cole Buys 21,070 Shares

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) CEO Lecil E. Cole bought 21,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.73 per share, for a total transaction of $499,991.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 536,070 shares in the company, valued at $12,720,941.10. The trade was a 4.09 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Calavo Growers stock opened at $24.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $429.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -401.67 and a beta of 0.41. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.30 and a 12 month high of $30.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.40 and its 200-day moving average is $25.26.

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

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CVGW shares. Lake Street Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Calavo Growers from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Calavo Growers by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 44,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 10,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Calavo Growers by 1,994.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 12,542 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 626.3% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 6,138 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 27,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

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.