Dean Capital Management Takes $2.06 Million Position in Mission Produce, Inc. $AVO

Dean Capital Management acquired a new stake in Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 149,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,058,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in Mission Produce during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Mission Produce in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Mission Produce by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Mission Produce by 211.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 466.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 5,792 shares in the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVO. UBS Group set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Mission Produce from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mission Produce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Mission Produce Price Performance

AVO opened at $12.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $12.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.99. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.07 and a 1 year high of $15.53.

Mission Produce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, June 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest acquired 592,957 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.28 per share, with a total value of $7,874,468.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,963,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $172,153,898.88. This represents a 4.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce C. Taylor acquired 70,283 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.25 per share, with a total value of $790,683.75. Following the purchase, the director owned 855,842 shares in the company, valued at $9,628,222.50. This represents a 8.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,352,161 shares of company stock valued at $42,458,664 over the last 90 days. 30.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.