Intech Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Dole PLC $DOLE

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,288 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Dole were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dole by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 7,959 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Dole by 8.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in Dole by 138.7% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 53,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 31,083 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Dole by 11.4% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 32,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Dole by 87.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 111,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 51,973 shares during the period.

Dole Stock Performance

NYSE:DOLE opened at $14.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 57.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65. Dole PLC has a 52-week low of $12.20 and a 52-week high of $15.36.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Dole had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 0.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that Dole PLC will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Dole’s payout ratio is currently 226.67%.

Dole announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, November 10th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dole in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Dole in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.00.

Dole Profile

Dole Food Company, Inc (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods.