Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Invests $507,000 in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 21,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $507,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.12% of Calavo Growers as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 2.8% in the first quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,088 shares of the company's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Calavo Growers by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 268,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,840,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Calavo Growers by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Calavo Growers by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

CVGW traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.48. 170,977 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 261,444. The stock has a market capitalization of $472.40 million, a P/E ratio of 45.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.14. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.30 and a 52-week high of $30.02.

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

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Calavo Growers's payout ratio is 137.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Calavo Growers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

Calavo Growers 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.