Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Stock Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE)’s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.29 and traded as high as $13.38. Dole shares last traded at $13.3280, with a volume of 1,505,355 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on DOLE shares. Zacks Research upgraded Dole from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $14.00 price target on Dole in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

Dole Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.66.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Dole had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dole PLC will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a $0.0850 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 16th. Dole’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dole

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pale Fire Capital SE increased its position in Dole by 0.6% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 9,427,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,719,000 after buying an additional 54,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Dole by 15.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,999,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,438,000 after buying an additional 659,892 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 24.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 753,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,771,000 after buying an additional 149,674 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 3.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 449,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,422,000 after buying an additional 16,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 15.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 256,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 34,805 shares during the last quarter.

Dole Company Profile

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables. The company supplies a broad portfolio of products, including bananas, pineapples, grapes, berries, citrus fruit, avocados, salads and other packaged and prepared produce. Its activities span farming, sourcing, processing, packaging, transportation and distribution.

Dole serves retail, foodservice and wholesale customers through operations and supply networks across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and other international markets.