River Road Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Dole PLC $DOLE

River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,617,435 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 525,801 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 4.85% of Dole worth $69,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dole by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,987,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,765,000 after purchasing an additional 48,710 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Dole by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,339,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,044,000 after buying an additional 523,287 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dole by 13.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,078,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after buying an additional 248,703 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dole by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,643,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,629,000 after buying an additional 15,418 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Dole by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,726,000 after acquiring an additional 41,738 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DOLE. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dole from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Dole Stock Performance

Shares of Dole stock opened at $14.01 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.25. Dole PLC has a one year low of $12.52 and a one year high of $16.57. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.63.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Dole had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dole PLC will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dole Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Dole’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.56%.

About Dole

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables. The company’s product range includes bananas, pineapples, berries, grapes, salads and a variety of other fresh and packaged produce, sold under the Dole brand and through private-label arrangements. Dole’s operations span the full fresh-produce value chain, from farming and sourcing to packing, ripening, cold‑chain logistics and wholesale and retail distribution, supporting both retail grocery and foodservice customers.

The company traces its commercial heritage to the early 20th century Hawaiian pineapple business founded by James Dole and has evolved through subsequent corporate restructurings and combinations.