Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Short Interest Up 66.5% in October

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 741,600 shares, a growth of 66.5% from the September 30th total of 445,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 285,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Calavo Growers Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of CVGW stock opened at $26.35 on Friday. Calavo Growers has a 1 year low of $20.30 and a 1 year high of $31.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.58. The company has a market cap of $468.94 million, a PE ratio of -292.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 6.35% and a negative net margin of 1.21%. The business had revenue of $179.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Research analysts predict that Calavo Growers will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is an increase from Calavo Growers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is presently -888.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Calavo Growers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Calavo Growers by 246.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 261,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,932,000 after purchasing an additional 185,946 shares in the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Calavo Growers by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 404,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,243,000 after acquiring an additional 137,325 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 356,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,088,000 after purchasing an additional 103,024 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C boosted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 566.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 70,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 59,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 3rd quarter worth $976,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Calavo Growers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd.

About Calavo Growers

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.