Kent Lake Capital LLC Purchases 200,000 Shares of Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

Kent Lake Capital LLC increased its position in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW - Free Report) by 200.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Calavo Growers makes up approximately 3.4% of Kent Lake Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Kent Lake Capital LLC owned 1.69% of Calavo Growers worth $8,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Calavo Growers by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,753,941 shares of the company's stock worth $100,382,000 after buying an additional 15,751 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Calavo Growers by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,445,222 shares of the company's stock worth $52,678,000 after buying an additional 160,709 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Calavo Growers by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,845 shares of the company's stock worth $20,259,000 after buying an additional 60,803 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Calavo Growers by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,518 shares of the company's stock worth $26,722,000 after buying an additional 11,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Calavo Growers by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 620,592 shares of the company's stock worth $22,621,000 after buying an additional 4,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CVGW traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.58. 89,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 189,902. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.42 and a 1 year high of $38.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.76 and a beta of 0.65. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.92 and a 200 day moving average of $26.87.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.18). Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a positive return on equity of 0.49%. 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 company earned ($0.08) EPS. Calavo Growers's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Calavo Growers's payout ratio is currently -60.61%.

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.