Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.50.

Mission Produce Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ AVO opened at $13.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 433.81 and a beta of 0.48. Mission Produce has a 52-week low of $10.07 and a 52-week high of $15.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 0.12%.The company had revenue of $450.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Mission Produce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, June 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Mission Produce

In other news, Director Jay Pack bought 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.10 per share, for a total transaction of $484,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 579,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,017,576.50. This trade represents a 7.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 687,222 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,148,869 shares of company stock valued at $40,194,872. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mission Produce

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 36.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,775,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,263 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 258.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 3,976,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,072 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Mission Produce by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,024,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,614,000 after purchasing an additional 334,629 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,756,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mission Produce by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,744 shares during the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc (NASDAQ:AVO) is an avocado sourcing, production, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh Hass avocados and other avocado varieties to retail, foodservice and wholesale customers, managing activities across the supply chain from growing and procurement to ripening, packing and delivery.

Mission Produce works with avocado growers and operates or manages production and distribution activities in several major growing regions, including Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and the United States.