CastleKnight Management LP Sells 36,000 Shares of Dole PLC $DOLE

CastleKnight Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 336,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,000 shares during the period. CastleKnight Management LP owned 0.35% of Dole worth $5,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Dole by 24.3% during the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,540,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,710,000 after buying an additional 301,319 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in Dole by 254.6% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 332,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,470,000 after buying an additional 238,819 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dole in the third quarter worth about $4,435,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Dole in the fourth quarter worth about $5,567,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dole by 13.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,078,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 248,703 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Dole Trading Down 1.6%

Dole stock opened at $14.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.63. Dole PLC has a 52 week low of $12.52 and a 52 week high of $16.57.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Dole had a return on equity of 7.63% and a net margin of 0.46%.The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dole PLC will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Dole Dividend Announcement

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

Dole Company 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.