Geode Capital Management LLC Has $11.48 Million Stake in Dole PLC $DOLE

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 820,582 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94,931 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Dole were worth $11,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DOLE. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dole during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Dole during the first quarter worth $77,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dole by 39.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Dole by 175.6% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 5,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Dole in the 2nd quarter valued at $173,000.

Dole Stock Performance

Shares of DOLE stock opened at $14.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.70, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.82. Dole PLC has a 12 month low of $12.20 and a 12 month high of $15.36.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). Dole had a net margin of 0.17% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dole PLC will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Dole announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, November 10th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Dole Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Dole’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 226.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on DOLE shares. Stephens started coverage on Dole in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Dole in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dole has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Dole Profile

Dole Food Company, Inc (Dole) is a producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. The Company is a producer of bananas and pineapples, and packaged fruit products, packaged salads and fresh-packed vegetables. The Company has three business segments: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged foods.