Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Sells 286,867 Shares of Dole PLC $DOLE

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 859,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286,867 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Dole were worth $12,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Dole by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,987,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,765,000 after purchasing an additional 48,710 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Dole by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,339,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,044,000 after purchasing an additional 523,287 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Dole by 13.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,078,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 248,703 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Dole by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,643,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,629,000 after purchasing an additional 15,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Dole by 2.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,726,000 after purchasing an additional 41,738 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on DOLE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Dole from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dole currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Dole Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of DOLE opened at $14.13 on Thursday. Dole PLC has a twelve month low of $12.52 and a twelve month high of $16.57. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.93.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Dole had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Dole PLC will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Dole’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.56%.

Dole Profile

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables. The company’s product range includes bananas, pineapples, berries, grapes, salads and a variety of other fresh and packaged produce, sold under the Dole brand and through private-label arrangements. Dole’s operations span the full fresh-produce value chain, from farming and sourcing to packing, ripening, cold?chain logistics and wholesale and retail distribution, supporting both retail grocery and foodservice customers.

The company traces its commercial heritage to the early 20th century Hawaiian pineapple business founded by James Dole and has evolved through subsequent corporate restructurings and combinations.