Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Mission Produce from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mission Produce news, CFO Bryan E. Giles sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.13, for a total transaction of $60,650.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 146,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,782,273.03. This trade represents a 3.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest purchased 592,957 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.28 per share, for a total transaction of $7,874,468.96. Following the purchase, the insider owned 12,963,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,153,898.88. This represents a 4.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 3,352,161 shares of company stock valued at $42,458,664 in the last quarter. 30.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 228.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 95,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 66,640 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Mission Produce by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 163,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 15,076 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Mission Produce by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 42,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mission Produce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $581,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Price Performance

AVO opened at $12.42 on Monday. Mission Produce has a one year low of $10.07 and a one year high of $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81 and a beta of 0.49.

Mission Produce declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.