Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) Shares Down 6.6% – Should You Sell?

Mission Produce, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVO) traded down 6.6% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $11.87 and last traded at $11.6860. 95,113 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,012,747 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVO. Wall Street Zen raised Mission Produce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Mission Produce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Mission Produce in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $16.00 target price on shares of Mission Produce in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Mission Produce Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $976.76 million, a PE ratio of 369.12 and a beta of 0.43.

Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.06. Mission Produce had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 5.91%. The firm had revenue of $450.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Mission Produce’s revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mission Produce, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mission Produce

In other news, Chairman Stephen Barnard sold 21,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $281,398.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 1,684,794 shares in the company, valued at $21,902,322. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over 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 Trading of Mission Produce

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Mission Produce by 12.0% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Mission Produce by 5.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 37,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Mission Produce in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Mission Produce by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Mission Produce during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

About Mission Produce

Mission Produce, Inc is a global avocado sourcing, distribution and marketing company headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company supplies fresh avocados to retailers, foodservice operators, wholesalers and other customers, managing activities that include procurement, quality control, ripening, packaging and distribution.

Mission Produce sources avocados from growing regions in North and South America and other international markets. Its operations are supported by ripening and distribution facilities designed to provide customers with avocados at different stages of readiness.