Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 27.23% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mission Produce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Mission Produce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.00.

Mission Produce Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVO opened at $11.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Mission Produce has a 1 year low of $10.07 and a 1 year high of $15.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 393.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $12.84 and its 200 day moving average is $12.78.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.58 million. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The business’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mission Produce will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 21,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $281,398.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,684,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,902,322. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 250,062 shares of company stock worth $3,238,747. Company insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mission Produce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fourth Sail Capital LP lifted its stake in Mission Produce by 258.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 3,976,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,072 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the first quarter valued at approximately $23,756,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Mission Produce by 36.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,775,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,263 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Mission Produce by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,423,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,778,000 after acquiring an additional 416,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Mission Produce by 809.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 444,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,111,000 after purchasing an additional 395,287 shares during the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mission Produce Company Profile

Mission Produce, Inc is a global avocado sourcing, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh avocados to retailers, foodservice operators, wholesalers and other customers, managing activities that include procurement, quality control, ripening, packaging and distribution.

Mission Produce sources avocados from growing regions in North and South America and other international markets. Its operations are supported by ripening and distribution facilities designed to provide customers with avocados at different stages of readiness.