Heartland Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in Mission Produce, Inc. $AVO

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 329,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,882,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.37% of Mission Produce as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVO. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the second quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 501,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,908,000 after purchasing an additional 199,511 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mission Produce by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,775,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,263 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Mission Produce by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 58,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 11,811 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,249,000. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mission Produce from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on Mission Produce in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mission Produce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mission Produce news, Director Jay A. Pack bought 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.10 per share, with a total value of $484,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 579,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,017,576.50. The trade was a 7.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Venture Globalharvest purchased 687,222 shares of Mission Produce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.42 per share, with a total value of $9,222,519.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,370,439 shares in the company, valued at $166,011,291.38. This trade represents a 5.88% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired 3,352,161 shares of company stock valued at $42,458,664 in the last three months. 30.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mission Produce Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVO opened at $13.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Mission Produce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.07 and a 52 week high of $15.53.

Mission Produce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mission Produce 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.