Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Mission Produce, Inc. $AVO

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Mission Produce by 16.9% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.53% of the company, valued at about $3.93 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Mission Produce, with Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosting its stake by 53.6% and SG Americas Securities LLC raising its stake by 319.0%.
• Mission Produce's stock received a downgrade from Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, but analysts maintain a consensus target price of $15.50.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO - Free Report) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 375,143 shares of the company's stock after selling 76,516 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.53% of Mission Produce worth $3,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVO. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Mission Produce by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Mission Produce by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 96,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Mission Produce in the fourth quarter valued at about $803,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Mission Produce by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 7,693 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Mission Produce by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,691,000 after purchasing an additional 257,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company's stock.

Mission Produce Price Performance

Mission Produce stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.53. The company had a trading volume of 643,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,345. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $15.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $884.87 million, a P/E ratio of 25.06 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $12.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.36.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.09. Mission Produce had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $380.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $296.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mission Produce

In other Mission Produce news, CFO Bryan E. Giles sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total value of $40,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,498,038.66. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 35.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Mission Produce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mission Produce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc engages in the sourcing, farming, packaging, marketing, and distribution of avocados, mangoes, and blueberries to food retailers, distributors, and foodservice customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments, Marketing and Distribution; International Farming; and Blueberries.