Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $12.70, but opened at $11.70. Mission Produce shares last traded at $11.2980, with a volume of 359,377 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Mission Produce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mission Produce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $849.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.60 million. Mission Produce had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business’s revenue was down 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest purchased 112,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.61 per share, for a total transaction of $1,306,183.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,384,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,733,092.98. The trade was a 1.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 353,276 shares of company stock worth $4,139,754. 35.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mission Produce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Mission Produce by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,570,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,901,000 after purchasing an additional 159,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mission Produce by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,869,000 after acquiring an additional 123,678 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 28.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 861,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,093,000 after purchasing an additional 191,405 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Mission Produce by 174.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 366,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,411,000 after purchasing an additional 233,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Mission Produce by 287.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 360,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 267,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.