Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Holdings in Dole PLC $DOLE

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 273,334.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 150,389 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150,334 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Dole were worth $2,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DOLE. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Dole by 30.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,938,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,983 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Dole by 7.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,815,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,284,000 after purchasing an additional 276,997 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Dole by 13.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,078,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 248,703 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Dole by 9.8% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,675,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,519,000 after purchasing an additional 148,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Dole by 2.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,726,000 after purchasing an additional 41,738 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DOLE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Dole from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dole currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Dole Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE DOLE opened at $14.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.92. Dole PLC has a 52 week low of $12.52 and a 52 week high of $16.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Dole had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Dole PLC will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dole Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Dole’s payout ratio is presently 75.56%.

Dole Profile

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables. The company’s product range includes bananas, pineapples, berries, grapes, salads and a variety of other fresh and packaged produce, sold under the Dole brand and through private-label arrangements. Dole’s operations span the full fresh-produce value chain, from farming and sourcing to packing, ripening, cold‑chain logistics and wholesale and retail distribution, supporting both retail grocery and foodservice customers.

The company traces its commercial heritage to the early 20th century Hawaiian pineapple business founded by James Dole and has evolved through subsequent corporate restructurings and combinations.