Short Interest in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Drops By 62.3%

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 445,300 shares, a decrease of 62.3% from the September 15th total of 1,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 293,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Calavo Growers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Calavo Growers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVGW. SG Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 51.4% during the first quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 404,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,243,000 after acquiring an additional 137,325 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Calavo Growers by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Calavo Growers by 40.7% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 356,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,088,000 after purchasing an additional 103,024 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 23.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 15,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,891 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Calavo Growers by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 128,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,766,000 after buying an additional 6,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Price Performance

Calavo Growers stock opened at $27.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.62 and a 200-day moving average of $25.51. Calavo Growers has a one year low of $20.30 and a one year high of $31.26.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.00 million. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 6.35%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Calavo Growers will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Calavo Growers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.00%.

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.