Lake Street Capital Upgrades Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR) to Buy

Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Lake Street Capital currently has $23.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Limoneira to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Limoneira Stock Up 2.4%

Limoneira stock opened at $16.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.44. Limoneira has a fifty-two week low of $14.80 and a fifty-two week high of $29.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 9th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.16). Limoneira had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 4.03%. The firm had revenue of $35.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share.

Limoneira declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Limoneira Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Limoneira’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Limoneira

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Limoneira by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 3,278,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,098,000 after acquiring an additional 14,500 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Limoneira by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 521,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,759,000 after buying an additional 11,304 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Limoneira by 1.4% during the first quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 439,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,791,000 after buying an additional 5,995 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in Limoneira by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 256,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 55,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Limoneira during the first quarter valued at $4,487,000. Institutional investors own 64.35% of the company’s stock.

Limoneira Company Profile

Limoneira Company operates as an agribusiness and real estate development company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three divisions: Agribusiness, Rental Operations, and Real Estate Development. It grows, processes, packs, markets, and sells lemons. The company also grows avocado, oranges, and specialty citrus and other crops, including Moro blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, Valencia oranges, Minneola tangelos, Star Ruby grapefruit, pummelos, and wine grapes.