Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Chairman Sells 66,496 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Mission Produce Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 66,496 shares at an average price of $13.02, generating approximately $865,778. He retained 1,750,017 shares after the transaction, a 3.66% reduction in his ownership.
• Mission Produce shares fell $0.42 to $12.39 in Tuesday trading. The company has a $1.09 billion market capitalization and trades near its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.18 in EPS versus the $0.12 consensus and $450 million in revenue, up 25.8% year over year. Its board also authorized a $100 million share repurchase program, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $16.50 average price target.

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 66,496 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.02, for a total transaction of $865,777.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 1,750,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,785,221.34. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

Mission Produce stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.39. 937,874 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,026,295. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.07 and a 12 month high of $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 413.14 and a beta of 0.48.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The firm's revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AVO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mission Produce from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mission Produce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVO. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Mission Produce by 251.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 269,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,175,000 after buying an additional 192,741 shares during the last quarter. Dean Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Mission Produce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,058,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,756,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce in the second quarter valued at $3,882,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Mission Produce by 312.3% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 167,220 shares of the company's stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 126,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.