Pale Fire Capital SE Buys 54,700 Shares of Dole PLC $DOLE

Pale Fire Capital SE raised its stake in shares of Dole PLC (NYSE:DOLE) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,427,476 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,700 shares during the quarter. Dole accounts for 11.5% of Pale Fire Capital SE’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pale Fire Capital SE owned approximately 0.10% of Dole worth $134,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DOLE. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Dole in the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Dole by 15.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,999,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,438,000 after buying an additional 659,892 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Dole during the first quarter valued at about $594,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Dole by 109.6% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 15,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Dole by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 173,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter.

Dole Price Performance

Shares of Dole stock opened at $14.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.75. Dole PLC has a twelve month low of $12.52 and a twelve month high of $16.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.63.

Dole (NYSE:DOLE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Dole had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Dole PLC will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dole Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. Dole’s payout ratio is presently 75.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DOLE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Dole in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Dole from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Dole from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Dole Company Profile

Dole plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables. The company’s product range includes bananas, pineapples, berries, grapes, salads and a variety of other fresh and packaged produce, sold under the Dole brand and through private-label arrangements. Dole’s operations span the full fresh-produce value chain, from farming and sourcing to packing, ripening, cold‑chain logistics and wholesale and retail distribution, supporting both retail grocery and foodservice customers.

The company traces its commercial heritage to the early 20th century Hawaiian pineapple business founded by James Dole and has evolved through subsequent corporate restructurings and combinations.