62,525 Shares in Mission Produce, Inc. $AVO Purchased by Fourth Sail Capital LP

Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 62,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Platform Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mission Produce during the fourth quarter worth about $12,130,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 1,889.0% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 37,969 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 69.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 187,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 77,327 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 23.1% during the second quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 28,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mission Produce during the second quarter worth about $302,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mission Produce

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest purchased 3,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.94 per share, for a total transaction of $44,118.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,991,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,299,429.38. This trade represents a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AVO stock opened at $11.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $989.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.90. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.07 and a 1-year high of $15.53.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $278.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.33 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 1.83%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mission Produce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Freedom Capital raised Mission Produce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mission Produce from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Mission Produce Company Profile

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.