Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AVO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Friday, September 4th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Mission Produce Price Performance

NASDAQ AVO opened at $12.81 on Friday. Mission Produce has a twelve month low of $10.07 and a twelve month high of $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 427.14 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.86.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 0.12%.The firm had revenue of $450.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mission Produce will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Mission Produce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bryan E. Giles sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.13, for a total transaction of $60,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 146,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,782,273.03. This trade represents a 3.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jay A. Pack purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.10 per share, for a total transaction of $484,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 579,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,017,576.50. This represents a 7.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 2,848,869 shares of company stock valued at $36,807,872 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mission Produce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVO. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mission Produce by 251.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 269,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,175,000 after purchasing an additional 192,741 shares in the last quarter. Dean Capital Management bought a new stake in Mission Produce during the first quarter worth about $2,058,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Mission Produce during the first quarter worth about $23,756,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mission Produce during the second quarter worth approximately $3,882,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 312.3% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 167,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after buying an additional 126,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc (NASDAQ:AVO) is an avocado sourcing, production, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh Hass avocados and other avocado varieties to retail, foodservice and wholesale customers, managing activities across the supply chain from growing and procurement to ripening, packing and delivery.

Mission Produce works with avocado growers and operates or manages production and distribution activities in several major growing regions, including Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and the United States.