Insider Buying: Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) EVP Buys 6,000 Shares of Stock

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) EVP Michael A. Browne purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.69 per share, with a total value of $142,140.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,675. This represents a 400.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Calavo Growers stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $30.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.60 million, a P/E ratio of -393.00 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.35 and a 200-day moving average of $25.55.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $169.96 million for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.33) EPS. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVGW. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Calavo Growers by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its position in Calavo Growers by 42.3% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CVGW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Calavo Growers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Lake Street Capital decreased their price objective 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.