Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $2.84 Million in Mission Produce, Inc. $AVO

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC initiated a $2.84 million stake in Mission Produce, purchasing 240,553 shares. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 63.57% of the company.
• Mission Produce reported quarterly EPS of $0.18, beating estimates by $0.06, while revenue reached $450 million—up 25.8% year over year and above analyst expectations.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $16.50, compared with the stock’s recent price near $13.01. The company also authorized a $100 million share-repurchase program.

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 240,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,836,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.27% of Mission Produce at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Mission Produce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the third quarter worth $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Mission Produce by 211.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 3,158 shares in the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mission Produce

In related news, CFO Bryan Giles sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.13, for a total transaction of $60,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 146,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,782,273.03. This represents a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jay Pack bought 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.10 per share, with a total value of $484,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 579,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,017,576.50. This represents a 7.41% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders acquired 2,848,869 shares of company stock worth $36,807,872. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $16.00 price objective on Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mission Produce from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.50.

Mission Produce Price Performance

NASDAQ:AVO opened at $13.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.87. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.07 and a 52-week high of $15.53. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 433.81 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $450.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 0.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mission Produce announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc NASDAQ: AVO is an avocado sourcing, production, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh Hass avocados and other avocado varieties to retail, foodservice and wholesale customers, managing activities across the supply chain from growing and procurement to ripening, packing and delivery.

Mission Produce works with avocado growers and operates or manages production and distribution activities in several major growing regions, including Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and the United States.

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