Short Interest in Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) Grows By 66.5%

Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 741,600 shares, a growth of 66.5% from the September 30th total of 445,300 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 285,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Calavo Growers Stock Performance

CVGW stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.35. The stock had a trading volume of 104,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 219,974. Calavo Growers has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $31.26. The stock's 50 day moving average is $26.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $468.94 million, a PE ratio of -292.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Calavo Growers (NASDAQ:CVGW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Calavo Growers had a positive return on equity of 6.35% and a negative net margin of 1.21%. The company had revenue of $179.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.00 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Calavo Growers will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Calavo Growers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Calavo Growers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Calavo Growers's dividend payout ratio is currently -888.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Calavo Growers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the second quarter worth about $56,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 40.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,831 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 318.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the company's stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Calavo Growers by 13.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,841 shares of the company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Calavo Growers in the first quarter worth about $276,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Calavo Growers Company Profile

Calavo Growers, Inc markets and distributes avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods to retail grocery and foodservice customers, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors, and wholesale customers worldwide. It operates through Grown and Prepared segments. The Grown segment distributes tomatoes and papayas; and procures avocados grown in California, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.