Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) by 134.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 280,584 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,100 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 1.58% of Calavo Growers worth $8,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVGW. Kent Lake Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,523,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Calavo Growers by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 531,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,415,000 after acquiring an additional 59,797 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 122,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after purchasing an additional 59,094 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 693.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 61,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 53,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 197,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,975,000 after purchasing an additional 31,272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Calavo Growers in a report on Wednesday, January 17th.

Calavo Growers Stock Up 2.1 %

CVGW stock opened at $28.56 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.05. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.42 and a twelve month high of $38.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $508.37 million, a P/E ratio of -43.27 and a beta of 0.63.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.18). Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a positive return on equity of 0.49%. The company had revenue of $127.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $254.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Calavo Growers’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -60.61%.

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.