Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the February 29th total of 961,300 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 179,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Calavo Growers stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.71. 183,285 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,617. Calavo Growers has a 12-month low of $21.42 and a 12-month high of $38.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $475.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.47 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.90.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.18). Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 0.49% and a negative net margin of 1.32%. The business had revenue of $127.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $254.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Calavo Growers will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Calavo Growers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -60.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Calavo Growers in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th.

Institutional Trading of Calavo Growers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVGW. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the company's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 104,193 shares of the company's stock worth $3,798,000 after acquiring an additional 7,684 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 171,057 shares of the company's stock worth $6,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 15,151 shares of the company's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 168.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

About Calavo Growers

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.

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