Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVO shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Mission Produce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Lake Street Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest bought 985,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.76 per share, with a total value of $11,591,879.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,837,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,926,483.36. This trade represents a 12.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 2,032,674 shares of company stock valued at $24,734,289. Insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVO. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 861,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,093,000 after buying an additional 191,405 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mission Produce by 11.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,869,000 after acquiring an additional 123,678 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mission Produce by 17.9% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 32,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 4,978 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the 3rd quarter worth $505,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 213,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,507,000 after purchasing an additional 69,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVO opened at $12.66 on Tuesday. Mission Produce has a twelve month low of $9.60 and a twelve month high of $15.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $896.91 million, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.49 and a 200-day moving average of $12.57.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $278.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.33 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 2.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mission Produce will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a leading global supplier, packer and distributor of fresh avocados, serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers. The company manages a vertically integrated supply chain that spans sourcing, post-harvest handling, packing and ripening. Through proprietary ripening technologies and cold-chain logistics, Mission Produce delivers consistent quality and extended shelf life for its avocado offerings.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Oxnard, California, Mission Produce grew from a regional packing operation into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AVO.