Dole (NYSE:DOLE) Research Coverage Started at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Dole (NYSE:DOLE) in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks reports. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on DOLE. Weiss Ratings cut Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research raised Dole from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $14.00 price target on shares of Dole in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Dole Stock Performance

DOLE stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.90. 1,457,491 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 998,286. Dole has a twelve month low of $12.59 and a twelve month high of $16.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Dole had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 0.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dole will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dole

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DOLE. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dole by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 181,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Dole by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 163,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,083,000 after buying an additional 51,859 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Dole by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 31,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 9,431 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Dole in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,293,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Dole in the 3rd quarter valued at $155,000.

About Dole

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables. The company supplies a broad portfolio of products, including bananas, pineapples, grapes, berries, citrus fruit, avocados, salads and other packaged and prepared produce. Its activities span farming, sourcing, processing, packaging, transportation and distribution.

Dole serves retail, foodservice and wholesale customers through operations and supply networks across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and other international markets.