IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Raises Position in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd boosted its stake in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) by 25.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,586 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,156 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Calavo Growers were worth $1,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CVGW. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Calavo Growers by 246.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 261,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,932,000 after buying an additional 185,946 shares in the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Calavo Growers by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 404,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,243,000 after buying an additional 137,325 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Calavo Growers by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 356,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,088,000 after acquiring an additional 103,024 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its holdings in Calavo Growers by 566.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 70,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 59,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Calavo Growers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $976,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Calavo Growers Stock Up 0.4 %

CVGW stock opened at $28.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $513.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -320.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.30 and a 12 month high of $31.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.54.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. Calavo Growers had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 6.35%. As a group, analysts forecast that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Calavo Growers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -888.89%.

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.