EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $250,000 in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. $FDP

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC has invested $250,000 in Fresh Del Monte Produce by acquiring 8,115 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• The company's stock recently received an upgraded rating from Wall Street Zen, moving from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating.
• Fresh Del Monte Produce announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, indicating a solid annual yield of 3.4%.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (NYSE:FDP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FDP. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 376,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,494,000 after purchasing an additional 34,447 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 9,848 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 50,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Fresh Del Monte Produce from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Stock Performance

Fresh Del Monte Produce stock opened at $35.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.25. Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.50 and a 52 week high of $40.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

Fresh Del Monte Produce Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fresh Del Monte Produce news, SVP Effie D. Silva sold 1,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.54, for a total transaction of $49,365.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $276,932.58. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ziad Nabulsi sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total value of $35,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $377,403.10. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 137,039 shares of company stock valued at $5,010,709. 30.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Profile

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.

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