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

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 549,800 shares, a decrease of 25.9% from the October 15th total of 741,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 276,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Calavo Growers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Calavo Growers in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 40.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 318.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Calavo Growers in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Calavo Growers by 13.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Calavo Growers stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $27.65. 83,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,753. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $492.23 million, a P/E ratio of -55.80 and a beta of 0.58. Calavo Growers has a 12 month low of $20.30 and a 12 month high of $31.26.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Equities research analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Calavo Growers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is -160.00%.

Calavo Growers Company Profile

Calavo Growers, Inc markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.