Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) CEO Purchases $938,613.00 in Stock

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) CEO Lecil E. Cole bought 38,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $938,613.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 574,225 shares in the company, valued at $14,125,935. This trade represents a 7.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Calavo Growers Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of Calavo Growers stock traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.15. 316,112 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 210,544. The company has a market cap of $466.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -434.63 and a beta of 0.41. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $30.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.17.

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

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVGW. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter worth $1,371,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Calavo Growers by 221.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,533,000 after buying an additional 85,272 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $310,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $709,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 338.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 20,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVGW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Lake Street Capital dropped their price target on shares of Calavo Growers from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

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.