Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Short Interest Update

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the July 31st total of 870,100 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 218,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Calavo Growers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd.

Calavo Growers Stock Down 1.3 %

Calavo Growers stock opened at $23.02 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.76 million, a P/E ratio of -255.78 and a beta of 0.56. Calavo Growers has a twelve month low of $20.30 and a twelve month high of $36.69.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 10th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.19. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 0.18% and a positive return on equity of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $184.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Calavo Growers will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -444.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Calavo Growers in the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 40.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 318.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 13.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Calavo Growers

Calavo Growers, Inc markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.