GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) by 1,994.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,171 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,542 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Calavo Growers were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Calavo Growers by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 268,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,840,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Calavo Growers by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Calavo Growers by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Calavo Growers by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Calavo Growers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CVGW opened at $27.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.90. The firm has a market cap of $495.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.85 and a beta of 0.41. Calavo Growers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $30.02.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW) last released its earnings results on Monday, June 9th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $190.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.75 million. Calavo Growers had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 1.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Calavo Growers, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Calavo Growers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Calavo Growers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.93%.

Insider Activity at Calavo Growers

In other news, CEO Lecil E. Cole purchased 38,155 shares of Calavo Growers stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $938,613.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 574,225 shares in the company, valued at $14,125,935. The trade was a 7.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael A. Browne bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.69 per share, for a total transaction of $142,140.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,675. The trade was a 400.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 73,438 shares of company stock worth $1,771,303 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Calavo Growers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

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.