Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVO opened at $13.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 433.81 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.87. Mission Produce has a 52 week low of $10.07 and a 52 week high of $15.53.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mission Produce will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mission Produce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Mission Produce

In related news, Director Bruce Taylor acquired 286,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.27 per share, with a total value of $3,227,840.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 755,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,518,339.34. This trade represents a 61.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jay Pack acquired 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.10 per share, for a total transaction of $484,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 579,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,017,576.50. This trade represents a 7.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 2,848,869 shares of company stock valued at $36,807,872 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mission Produce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Sail Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 258.5% in the second quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 3,976,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,880,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,072 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Mission Produce in the first quarter valued at about $23,756,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Mission Produce by 36.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,775,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,263 shares during the last quarter. Platform Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mission Produce in the fourth quarter worth about $12,130,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 1,595.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 726,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,568,000 after purchasing an additional 683,878 shares during the period. 63.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc (NASDAQ:AVO) is an avocado sourcing, production, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh Hass avocados and other avocado varieties to retail, foodservice and wholesale customers, managing activities across the supply chain from growing and procurement to ripening, packing and delivery.

Mission Produce works with avocado growers and operates or manages production and distribution activities in several major growing regions, including Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and the United States.