Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Six analysts give Mission Produce a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (2 hold, 3 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 1‑year price target of $17.00.
• Major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 300,000 shares at $12.50 on Jan. 20; insiders purchased 612,715 shares over the last three months and now own 30.85% of the company.
• For the quarter ended Mar. 12 the company reported EPS of $0.10 (vs. $0.07 estimate) and revenue of $278.6M (slightly above estimates) but revenue fell 26.1% YoY; the stock has a market cap of about $1.01 billion and a P/E of 31.07.

Shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.00.

AVO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised Mission Produce to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mission Produce

In other Mission Produce news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 300,000 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $3,750,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,461,581 shares in the company, valued at $118,269,762.50. This represents a 3.27% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 612,715 shares of company stock worth $7,849,797. Corporate insiders own 30.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVO. Platform Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mission Produce in the 4th quarter valued at $12,130,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Mission Produce by 287.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 360,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 267,752 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Mission Produce by 174.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 366,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,411,000 after purchasing an additional 233,447 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Mission Produce by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,570,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,901,000 after purchasing an additional 159,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Mission Produce in the 4th quarter valued at $1,343,000. 63.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mission Produce Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of AVO stock opened at $14.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.79. Mission Produce has a 1-year low of $10.00 and a 1-year high of $15.53.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $278.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.33 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 2.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.

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.