Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Stock Rated Strong-Buy in New Coverage at Freedom Broker

Equities researchers at Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of Dole (NYSE:DOLE) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DOLE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $14.00 price target on Dole in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Dole from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dole has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

Dole Price Performance

Shares of DOLE stock opened at $13.81 on Wednesday. Dole has a 52-week low of $12.59 and a 52-week high of $16.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.28.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Dole had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 0.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Dole will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dole

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its position in Dole by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 163,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 51,859 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dole by 41.9% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 31,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 9,431 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Dole in the third quarter worth $2,293,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dole in the third quarter worth $155,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 204.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 3,256 shares in the last quarter.

About Dole

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables. The company supplies a broad portfolio of products, including bananas, pineapples, grapes, berries, citrus fruit, avocados, salads and other packaged and prepared produce. Its activities span farming, sourcing, processing, packaging, transportation and distribution.

Dole serves retail, foodservice and wholesale customers through operations and supply networks across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and other international markets.