On April 5, 2023, a new filing by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System was released, detailing the purchase of fresh shares in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE:FDP). According to this latest Form 13F submission with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company has acquired 12,519 shares valued at approximately $328,000.
This is an interesting development for those following the agricultural industry. Fresh Del Monte Produce is renowned for its global food production services that span across numerous sub-sectors of the market. Its operations include, but are not limited to: prepared foods and beverages; fresh produce throughout North America; Europe; and Latin America; as well as refrigerated transportation to maintain optimal conditions worldwide.
The company recently released its earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The financial report shows that Fresh Del Monte Produce posted $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.50 – this signifies solid growth in comparison to last year’s EPS of ($0.18). The quarterly revenue from these impressive figures rings in at $1.04 billion – up over 2% from the previous year.
Notably, StockNews.com published a recent research report upgrading Fresh Del Monte Produce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating on Friday, March 31st. Given all these facts, it is no surprise that more investors are showing interest in purchasing stock from this innovative corporation.
Looking ahead – with an increasing demand for healthy and sustainable food options globally – there are positive signals within Fresh Del Monte Produces’ consistentized growth statistics which may provide long-term shareholder value and market receptivity even under emerging economic challenges.
Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds Show Interest in Fresh Del Monte Produce as Stock Performance Remains Strong
Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP) has recently garnered interest from a number of institutional investors and hedge funds. In the third quarter, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 8.3%. The firm now holds around 6,091 shares of the company’s stock which are worth $142,000. Meanwhile, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in FDP by 2.8% during the last quarter and now owns 21,233 shares valued at $556,000. Citigroup Inc. also increased its position in the company by 1.9% to own some 33,705 shares worth $874,000 while Legal & General Group Plc purchased an additional 884 shares during the second quarter to bring their holding up to around 93,685 shares with a value of $2.77 million.
Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in FDP during Q2 for approximately $32 thousand dollars. Currently, around 64.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
The company recently raised its dividend payout ratio (DPR) to 29.27%, paying out a quarterly dividend on March 31st to shareholders of record as of March 8th at a rate of $0.15 per share.
Fresh Del Monte opened Wednesday’s trading session at $30.04 and has seen good performance over the past year with a twelve month low of $22.63 and high of $32.49; it boasts a market cap tallying up to about $1.44 billion along with a P/E Ratio trailing along at about 14:65 and beta showing .66.
StockNews.com conducted research that resulted in them upgrading their rating for Fresh Del Monte Produce from “hold” to “buy.”
Recent SEC filings show that Hans Sauter sold off his holdings in FDP, approximately 1,499 shares sold at an average price of $30.76 in a transaction that totaled $46,109.24. Meanwhile, Sergio Mancilla sold off 1,485 shares for a total transaction of $44,847. Interestingly enough, it has come to light that Vice President Sergio Mancilla holds only 68 shares following the sale.
Overall insiders have sold around 3,677 company shares during the last three months which have been valued at approximately $112,788.
Fresh Del Monte continues to be a stock of interest with solid performance touching on multiple metrics critical to success along with intriguing activity among institutional investors and hedge funds over the past year.
Source: beststocks.com
