Old West Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 427,379 Calavo Growers, Inc. $CVGW

Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 427,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,364,000. Calavo Growers comprises about 3.7% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Old West Investment Management LLC owned approximately 2.40% of Calavo Growers as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Calavo Growers by 85.6% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 21,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15,191 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,161,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,876,000 after acquiring an additional 13,491 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 1st quarter worth $507,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Shares of Calavo Growers stock opened at $21.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $390.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.14. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.39 and a 52 week high of $28.72.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $178.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.20 million. Calavo Growers had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 2.28%.The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CVGW shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Calavo Growers from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Stephens raised Calavo Growers to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Calavo Growers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Calavo Growers in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Calavo Growers Profile

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.