Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average on Analyst Downgrade

Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a hold (c) rating to a hold (c+) rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $14.25 and traded as high as $14.32. Dole shares last traded at $14.3140, with a volume of 1,368,674 shares changing hands.

DOLE has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank set a $14.00 target price on shares of Dole in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Dole from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Institutional Trading of Dole

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DOLE. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its holdings in Dole by 0.6% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 9,427,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,719,000 after purchasing an additional 54,700 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Dole by 15.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,999,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,438,000 after buying an additional 659,892 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Dole by 24.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 753,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,771,000 after buying an additional 149,674 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 449,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,422,000 after buying an additional 16,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 256,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 34,805 shares during the last quarter.

Dole Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.25.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.16). Dole had a return on equity of 7.05% and a net margin of 0.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dole PLC will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.0850 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Dole’s payout ratio is presently 34.69%.

About Dole

Dole plc is an international fresh produce company that sources, grows, packs, ships, markets and distributes fruit and vegetables. Its products include bananas, pineapples and other fresh fruit, as well as vegetables and packaged salads sold under the Dole brand and other labels. The company serves retail, wholesale and food-service customers across a range of markets. Its operations span multiple regions, connecting produce growers and farms with customers through its global sourcing, logistics and distribution network.