Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Short Interest Down 28.1% in December

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,322,863 shares, a decline of 28.1% from the December 15th total of 1,838,723 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 831,816 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 831,816 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mission Produce

In other Mission Produce news, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest acquired 13,683 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.96 per share, with a total value of $163,648.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,850,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,896,764. This represents a 0.17% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 353,276 shares of company stock worth $4,139,754. 35.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mission Produce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 100,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Mission Produce by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Mission Produce by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 12,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 15,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. 63.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

Shares of AVO stock opened at $12.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $877.89 million, a PE ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Mission Produce has a one year low of $9.56 and a one year high of $14.12.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Mission Produce had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 2.71%.The firm had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mission Produce will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Mission Produce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Mission Produce Company Profile

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.