Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 31,085 Shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. $FDP

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (NYSE:FDP) by 13.8% in Q2, selling 31,085 shares. After the sale, it holds 194,086 shares valued at $6.29 million. Other investors, including New York State Teachers Retirement System and Principal Financial Group, also adjusted their positions. Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating for FDP, with recent insider selling noted. The stock opened at $34.95, with a market cap of $1.68 billion and a P/E ratio of 21.44. Fresh Del Monte reported earnings of $0.69 per share, exceeding estimates.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (NYSE:FDP - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 194,086 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,085 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.40% of Fresh Del Monte Produce worth $6,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 17.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 167,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 4,384 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 21.0% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 9,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Fresh Del Monte Produce by 5.0% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Fresh Del Monte Produce in the first quarter valued at about $300,000. 64.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FDP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fresh Del Monte Produce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

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Read Our Latest Research Report on FDP

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Ziad Nabulsi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $35,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $377,403.10. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ghazaleh Mohammad Abu sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.92, for a total value of $1,796,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,990,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,268,889.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 137,039 shares of company stock valued at $5,010,709 over the last three months. Insiders own 31.60% of the company's stock.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Stock Performance

NYSE FDP opened at $34.95 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.03 and its 200-day moving average is $34.39. Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.50 and a 12-month high of $40.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 0.41.

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.19. Fresh Del Monte Produce had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Fresh Del Monte Produce's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Fresh Del Monte Produce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.46%.

About Fresh Del Monte Produce

(Free Report)

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc, through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services.

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