American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Position in Calavo Growers, Inc. $CVGW

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Calavo Growers, Inc. by 11.7%, now holding 393,729 shares worth approximately $9.45 million.
• Calavo Growers reported an earnings miss for the quarter, with an EPS of $0.40 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.53, resulting in a net margin of only 1.50%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio exceeding 137%.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,729 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,088 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.21% of Calavo Growers worth $9,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,770,251 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,468,000 after buying an additional 106,736 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the 1st quarter valued at $1,189,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the 1st quarter valued at $297,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 206,410 shares of the company's stock worth $4,952,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Calavo Growers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CVGW traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.35. 107,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,269. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business's fifty day moving average is $26.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.74. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a one year low of $21.46 and a one year high of $30.02. The stock has a market cap of $487.92 million, a PE ratio of 47.16 and a beta of 0.42.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 9th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.13). Calavo Growers had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 11.79%. The business had revenue of $190.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Calavo Growers's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Calavo Growers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.93%.

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.