Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $16.00 According to Brokerages

Shares of Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mission Produce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mission Produce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Santander initiated coverage on Mission Produce in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mission Produce

In other news, Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 111,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $1,448,767.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,695,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,054,356.85. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Luis Gonzalez acquired 29,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.59 per share, for a total transaction of $347,653.64. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,004,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,177,971.01. This trade represents a 0.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 250,062 shares of company stock valued at $3,238,747. Corporate insiders own 30.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mission Produce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Mission Produce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter valued at $106,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter worth $140,000. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new position in Mission Produce during the 3rd quarter worth $152,000. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Mission Produce Trading Down 4.3%

NASDAQ:AVO opened at $10.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $962.73 million, a PE ratio of 366.12 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Mission Produce has a 52 week low of $10.07 and a 52 week high of $15.53.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.57 million. Mission Produce had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 0.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Mission Produce will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is an international avocado sourcing, production, packing, marketing and distribution company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh avocados to retailers, foodservice operators and wholesale customers under the Mission brand and other customer-specific programs.

Mission Produce sources avocados from growing regions in North and South America and operates or partners with farming, packing and distribution operations in multiple countries. Its activities include fruit procurement, ripening, quality control, packaging, logistics and global marketing, helping customers receive avocados at different stages of ripeness.

In addition to avocados, the company participates in the mango category and markets related fresh-produce offerings in selected channels.