CastleKnight Management LP Has $5.04 Million Stock Holdings in Dole PLC $DOLE

CastleKnight Management LP cut its position in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 336,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. CastleKnight Management LP’s holdings in Dole were worth $5,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Dole by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,987,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,765,000 after purchasing an additional 48,710 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Dole by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,339,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,044,000 after purchasing an additional 523,287 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in Dole by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,643,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,629,000 after purchasing an additional 15,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DOLE. Weiss Ratings downgraded Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Dole from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Dole from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a report on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Dole Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of DOLE opened at $14.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Dole PLC has a one year low of $12.52 and a one year high of $16.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.93.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Dole had a return on equity of 7.63% and a net margin of 0.46%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dole PLC will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dole Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. 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.