Savant Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 16,743 Dole PLC $DOLE

Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dole by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Dole by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Dole by 2.7% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 127,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Dole by 8.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dole by 138.7% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 53,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 31,083 shares in the last quarter.

Dole Price Performance

Dole stock opened at $13.65 on Thursday. Dole PLC has a 52 week low of $12.20 and a 52 week high of $15.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Dole had a net margin of 0.28% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Dole PLC will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Dole declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, November 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Dole Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. Dole’s payout ratio is presently 226.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DOLE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dole in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Dole in a report on Friday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

About Dole

Dole Food Company, Inc (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods.