Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Shares Down 6.6% – Should You Sell?

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO)’s stock price traded down 6.6% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $11.87 and last traded at $11.6860. Approximately 95,113 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,012,747 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.51.

Key Stories Impacting Mission Produce

Here are the key news stories impacting Mission Produce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stephens reaffirmed its “Overweight” rating and set a $15 price target, implying roughly 28% upside from the referenced share price. The endorsement suggests the firm believes Mission Produce’s valuation and growth prospects are attractive. Benzinga analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: At its investor day, Mission Produce outlined targets for mid-single-digit organic sales growth and 300 basis points of margin expansion over the next five years. Management also set a 2035 ambition to double sales and triple adjusted EBITDA, with the strategy intended to support high-single-digit to double-digit annual shareholder returns over time. Mission Produce investor day targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor coverage is focused on whether the company can convert its avocado sourcing, production and distribution strategy into sustained profit growth. The targets offer a longer-term framework, but execution and margin improvement remain important risks for investors. Investor day slideshow
• Negative Sentiment: Mission Produce shares recently fell about 5.8%, while coverage also noted the stock was down 6.8% since its latest earnings report. The decline indicates that investors may have viewed the investor-day outlook as insufficient to offset near-term concerns or may be taking profits after prior earnings-related gains. Why Mission Produce shares are declining
• Negative Sentiment: With a very high reported P/E ratio and minimal net margin, AVO’s valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Investors may therefore be demanding clearer evidence of near-term earnings acceleration before fully crediting the 2035 ambitions. Mission Produce valuation analysis

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Mission Produce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Mission Produce from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 391.13 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $12.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $450.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Mission Produce’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 111,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total value of $1,448,767.58. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,695,185 shares in the company, valued at $22,054,356.85. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 250,062 shares of company stock worth $3,238,747 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVO. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Mission Produce in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mission Produce in the 2nd quarter worth $140,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc is a global avocado sourcing, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh avocados to retailers, foodservice operators, wholesalers and other customers, managing activities that include procurement, quality control, ripening, packaging and distribution.

Mission Produce sources avocados from growing regions in North and South America and other international markets. Its operations are supported by ripening and distribution facilities designed to provide customers with avocados at different stages of readiness.