Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) Price Target Raised to $40.00

Key Points

• Lake Street Capital has raised its price target for Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) from $35.00 to $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 52.09% based on the current stock price.
• Despite the optimistic price target, Wall Street Zen has downgraded Calavo Growers from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting mixed analyst sentiments.
• Calavo Growers reported earnings per share of $0.57 for the last quarter, beating estimates, but experienced a revenue decline of 0.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Lake Street Capital from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Calavo Growers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Calavo Growers Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ CVGW traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $27.45. 150,408 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,313. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Calavo Growers has a fifty-two week low of $21.46 and a fifty-two week high of $30.02. The company has a market cap of $489.98 million, a PE ratio of 31.19 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.00.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $178.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.20 million. Calavo Growers had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Calavo Growers will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Calavo Growers's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVGW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 worth $366,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Calavo Growers during the 4th quarter worth $623,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 166,393 shares of the company's stock worth $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at about $561,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at about $376,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Calavo Growers Company 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.