GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Raises Stock Position in Calavo Growers, Inc. $CVGW

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,899 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,499 shares during the quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.’s holdings in Calavo Growers were worth $3,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Calavo Growers by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in Calavo Growers by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 38,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Calavo Growers by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Calavo Growers by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Calavo Growers by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 30,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CVGW. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Calavo Growers from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Calavo Growers from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Shares of CVGW stock opened at $26.46 on Monday. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.59 and its 200 day moving average is $24.27. The company has a market capitalization of $472.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Calavo Growers had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.45 million.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is 89.89%.

Calavo Growers Profile

Calavo Growers, Inc (NASDAQ:CVGW), founded in 1924 and headquartered in Santa Paula, California, is a global supplier and distributor of fresh avocados and perishable foods. The company partners with growers in key producing regions to source, ripen and package whole avocados for retail, wholesale and foodservice customers. Calavo’s commitment to quality and food safety underpins its position as a trusted link between growers and end-markets.

The company operates two segments: Fresh and Calavo Foods.