Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Trading 5% Higher

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) traded up 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $28.14 and last traded at $28.11. 126,233 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 177,038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Calavo Growers in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th.

Calavo Growers Stock Up 5.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.82.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.18). Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a positive return on equity of 0.49%. The firm had revenue of $127.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $254.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is currently -60.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVGW. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Calavo Growers by 5.5% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Calavo Growers by 8.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 104,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after acquiring an additional 7,684 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 1.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 171,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,233,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 13.1% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 15,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 168.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.