Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,260,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the March 15th total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 183,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.9 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens cut their price target on Mission Produce from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd.

Mission Produce Price Performance

Shares of AVO stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.40. 69,234 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 177,908. Mission Produce has a twelve month low of $8.19 and a twelve month high of $13.99. The firm has a market cap of $807.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $258.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.40 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 3.98% and a net margin of 0.60%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Luis A. Gonzalez sold 42,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $507,036.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,781,178 shares in the company, valued at $93,918,818.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Mission Produce news, Director Luis A. Gonzalez sold 42,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $507,036.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,781,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,918,818.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Luis A. Gonzalez sold 231,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $2,735,687.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,916,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,657,908.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,834 shares of company stock worth $3,333,705 over the last three months. 41.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 38.4% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 49.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 1.6% in the second quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 59,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 46,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Mission Produce by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 166,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc engages in the sourcing, farming, packaging, marketing, and distribution of avocados, mangoes, and blueberries to food retailers, distributors, and foodservice customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments, Marketing and Distribution; International Farming; and Blueberries.