Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $450.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 1.83%.

Mission Produce Stock Up 1.5%

Mission Produce stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $12.87. The company had a trading volume of 966,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,870. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.90 and its 200-day moving average is $12.91. Mission Produce has a fifty-two week low of $10.07 and a fifty-two week high of $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AVO shares. UBS Group set a $16.00 price objective on Mission Produce in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mission Produce news, Director Jay A. Pack bought 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.10 per share, with a total value of $484,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 579,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,017,576.50. The trade was a 7.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest acquired 687,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.42 per share, for a total transaction of $9,222,519.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 12,370,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $166,011,291.38. The trade was a 5.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 3,352,161 shares of company stock valued at $42,458,664 over the last ninety days. 30.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Mission Produce during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Mission Produce by 211.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 3,158 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 466.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 5,792 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the 3rd quarter worth about $95,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 11,842.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 11,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 11,132 shares during the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mission Produce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.