Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $10.31 and last traded at $10.3050, with a volume of 349272 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Freedom Capital raised Mission Produce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mission Produce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Mission Produce Stock Down 2.4%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.94. The company has a market capitalization of $734.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $278.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.33 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 2.48%.Mission Produce’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Mission Produce news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest purchased 3,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.94 per share, for a total transaction of $44,118.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 9,991,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,299,429.38. This represents a 0.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 30.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 211.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 3,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 33.7% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.