Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Short Interest Update

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,245,527 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the February 12th total of 1,073,608 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 168,031 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.4 days. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 168,031 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVGW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Calavo Growers from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Calavo Growers from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

NASDAQ CVGW opened at $24.57 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Calavo Growers has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.98. The firm has a market cap of $439.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61 and a beta of 0.38.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Calavo Growers had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.61%.The company had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.45 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Calavo Growers will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVGW. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new stake in Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at $15,206,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,443,000. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 546,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,896,000 after purchasing an additional 315,280 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 1,873.8% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 226,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 215,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 588.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 236,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 202,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Company 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.