Wall Street Zen Downgrades Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) to Hold

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Price Performance

FDP opened at $35.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.00 and a 200 day moving average of $34.46. Fresh Del Monte Produce has a 52-week low of $26.50 and a 52-week high of $40.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65 and a beta of 0.41.

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.19. Fresh Del Monte Produce had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 1.84%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Fresh Del Monte Produce’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Transactions at Fresh Del Monte Produce

In other news, SVP Gianpaolo Renino sold 12,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $445,373.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,786.41. The trade was a 79.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ghazaleh Mohammad Abu sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.92, for a total value of $1,796,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,990,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,268,889.44. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,594 shares of company stock valued at $3,504,925. Corporate insiders own 31.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,943,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,395,000 after acquiring an additional 133,638 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 148.3% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,439,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,683,000 after purchasing an additional 859,940 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in Fresh Del Monte Produce in the second quarter worth $44,011,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 12.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,241,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after purchasing an additional 140,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,135,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,010,000 after purchasing an additional 30,216 shares during the last quarter. 64.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Company Profile

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc, through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services.