Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) Short Interest Update

Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,521,345 shares, a drop of 14.5% from the March 15th total of 1,780,132 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 865,209 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dole

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 120.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter.

Dole Price Performance

Shares of Dole stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.20. 749,580 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 724,589. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.57. Dole has a 12 month low of $12.52 and a 12 month high of $16.57.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Dole had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dole will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Dole’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DOLE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dole in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

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.