Nuance Investments LLC Raises Position in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,663,515 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,546 shares during the period. Calavo Growers accounts for 1.7% of Nuance Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.09% of Calavo Growers worth $42,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVGW. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Calavo Growers by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Calavo Growers by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Calavo Growers by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CVGW. StockNews.com lowered Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Lake Street Capital cut their price objective on Calavo Growers from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Calavo Growers stock opened at $23.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.92 million, a P/E ratio of -390.50 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.37 and a 200-day moving average of $25.76. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.30 and a 52-week high of $30.58.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $169.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.99 million. Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 9.66% and a negative net margin of 0.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.33) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Calavo Growers’s payout ratio is 148.15%.

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.