Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Stock Has Average Price Target of $16.00 According to Analysts

Shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Mission Produce from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Mission Produce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Friday, October 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Luis A. Gonzalez acquired 22,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.22 per share, with a total value of $247,131.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 7,026,165 shares in the company, valued at $78,833,571.30. The trade was a 0.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Stephen J. Barnard sold 21,646 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $281,398.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,684,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,902,322. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 250,062 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,747. Insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,286,263 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP boosted its position in Mission Produce by 258.5% during the second quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 3,976,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,880,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,072 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Mission Produce by 12.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,024,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,614,000 after acquiring an additional 334,629 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Mission Produce during the 1st quarter worth about $23,756,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mission Produce by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,423,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,778,000 after acquiring an additional 416,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AVO opened at $12.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.92. 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 $12.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 401.80 and a beta of 0.43.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mission Produce will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a global avocado sourcing, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh avocados to retailers, foodservice operators, wholesalers and other customers, managing activities that include procurement, quality control, ripening, packaging and distribution.

Mission Produce sources avocados from growing regions in North and South America and other international markets. Its operations are supported by ripening and distribution facilities designed to provide customers with avocados at different stages of readiness.