Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $105.55 Million Stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. $FDP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 3.3%, selling 118,408 shares and owning 3,423,655 shares worth approximately $105.55 million.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Fresh Del Monte Produce from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating positive growth expectations for the company.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.3%, payable on September 5th to investors of record on August 13th.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (NYSE:FDP - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,423,655 shares of the company's stock after selling 118,408 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 7.14% of Fresh Del Monte Produce worth $105,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDP. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 68.8% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 580,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,882,000 after buying an additional 236,476 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2,671.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,727,000 after buying an additional 199,911 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 95.8% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 377,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,633,000 after buying an additional 184,573 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce in the first quarter valued at $4,242,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,943,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,395,000 after purchasing an additional 133,638 shares in the last quarter. 64.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Trading Down 2.5%

FDP traded down $0.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.64. The company had a trading volume of 140,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,934. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.91. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.42. Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.50 and a 12-month high of $40.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.28. Fresh Del Monte Produce had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 3.49%.The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. Fresh Del Monte Produce's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Fresh Del Monte Produce's payout ratio is 38.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fresh Del Monte Produce news, SVP Gianpaolo Renino sold 12,192 shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total transaction of $445,373.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,786.41. The trade was a 79.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ghazaleh Mohammad Abu sold 50,000 shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.92, for a total value of $1,796,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,990,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,268,889.44. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 136,766 shares of company stock worth $5,000,949. Insiders own 31.60% of the company's stock.

About Fresh Del Monte Produce

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc, through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services.