Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Dole (NYSE:DOLE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on DOLE. Deutsche Bank set a $14.00 target price on shares of Dole in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Dole in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.00.

Dole Stock Performance

Shares of DOLE opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.75. Dole has a 52 week low of $12.59 and a 52 week high of $16.57.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Dole had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 7.05%. On average, analysts expect that Dole will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Dole Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.0850 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Dole’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dole

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 54,700 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Dole by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,999,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,438,000 after purchasing an additional 659,892 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Dole by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 753,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,771,000 after purchasing an additional 149,674 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Dole by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 449,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,422,000 after purchasing an additional 16,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Dole by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 256,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 34,805 shares in the last quarter.

About Dole

Dole plc is an international fresh produce company that sources, grows, packs, ships, markets and distributes fruit and vegetables. Its products include bananas, pineapples and other fresh fruit, as well as vegetables and packaged salads sold under the Dole brand and other labels. The company serves retail, wholesale and food-service customers across a range of markets. Its operations span multiple regions, connecting produce growers and farms with customers through its global sourcing, logistics and distribution network.