How to Buy Dole (DOLE) Stock

If you’ve ever picked up bananas from your local supermarket’s fruits and produce section, chances are Dole Food Co. (NYSE: DOLE) was responsible for the growth, care and distribution of a wide range of fresh fruit you’ve purchased. One of the world’s largest producers of the typically yellow-colored delight, the agricultural food giant has a massive retail footprint. The famous fruit brand combined with Dublin, Ireland-based Total Produce plc (OTCMKTS: TTPPF), to form Dole plc (NYSE: DOLE) via an initial public offering (IPO). Now that the stock is public, should market participants give it a try?

When Did Dole IPO?

DOLE IPO’d on Friday July 30, 2021 at a price of $15 per share, bringing the firm’s valuation to $1.5 billion.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) and privately held Davy Group acted as lead book runners for the offering. In addition, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), BMO Capital Markets and Rabo Securities acted as book-running managers.

Interestingly, Dole had been eyeballing a return to the public capital markets since the company’s former CEO David Murdock took the organization private in 2013. In April 2017, Dole filed for an IPO but withdrew 9 months later when a proposed acquisition deal with Brussels, Belgium-based Greenyard fell apart.

Dole Financial History

Although a public market offering focused on the business of distributing fruits and vegetables hardly sounds like exciting fare, Dole serves a critical human demand. No matter how advanced our connectivity technologies become, and even if artificial intelligence can predict our words before we say them, nothing can override our need for basic sustenance. Better yet, the combination of Dole and Total Produce gives investors of this stock a surprising growth narrative.

For starters, Dole owns the No. 1 slot in North America in terms of market share for banana sales. In addition, it’s No. 2 in the European region. As for pineapples, Dole sits in 2nd place for both the aforementioned markets. More importantly, management outlined in its IPO prospectus that it plans to expand its berry and avocado businesses, currently worth approximately $700 million in pro forma sales. Dole also aims to broaden its namesake-branded product footprint in Europe.

Better yet, the company’s international recognition along with specific dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic favorable to the fruit and vegetable giant combined for excellent financial performances. For instance, in the crisis-restricted year of 2020, Dole generated revenue of $4.34 billion, up 4% from 2019’s tally of $4.17 billion. Moreover, net income saw an increase to $71.2 billion in 2020 from $69.4 billion in the year prior.

Dole corralled the momentum into the present year, with 1st-quarter revenue of $1.05 billion representing growth of nearly 7% from 1st-quarter 2020 sales of almost $984,000. True, sales in the 1st quarter last year suffered tremendously from the initial shock of the pandemic. Nevertheless, prospective buyers of DOLE stock can take encouragement that consumer demand for grocery sales remains robust.

Dole Potential

One of the immediate challenges for Dole’s stock is its IPO timing. With both popular trading app Robinhood Markets Inc. and language-learning platform Duolingo set to launch on the same day as the agricultural products specialist, Dole has serious competition for investor eyeballs. Despite its less-than-favorable positioning in the IPO calendar, investors that like moving against the grain will want to keep close tabs on DOLE stock.

Consumer habits have been shifting favorably for fruits and produce companies over the last several years. According to surveys tracking young people’s purchasing behaviors, more than 60% of millennials perceived that their generation is more focused on health than any other generation. Frankly, such reports carry credibility. For instance, up until rebranding efforts changed the narrative positively, both Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) lost relevancy with millennials, who prefer healthier alternatives to sugary sodas.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a much-needed wake-up call for American shoppers. Thanks to a year of quarantines and restrictions on nonessential activities, what little exercise that some folks get suffered an even further decline in motion. The end result was a collective shift toward a sedentary lifestyle, which unsurprisingly led to an expansion of the waistline. To remedy this, many consumers pivoted toward healthier and natural food products.

To be fair, while millennials may be a health-centric generation, it’s not clear whether the emerging generation Z feels the same. According to Military.com, ⅓ of youths are too obese for military service. Also, if the pandemic worsens because of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, economic pressures may force grocery shoppers to elect cheaper discount brands.

Overall, though, food-related businesses provide a mixture of growth opportunities and downside risk mitigation because of to their critical demand profile. For those uncertain about the future of the markets, DOLE stock should provide confidence.

How to Buy Dole (DOLE) Stock

When most people think about the stock market, they’re referencing the secondary market or exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market. The term secondary implies secondhand ownership of publicly traded securities, which is exactly what this market entails, especially as private companies finally choose to go public.

If you already know how to buy stocks, you can jump in right away. If not, just follow the steps below.

Step 1: Pick a brokerage.

During the advent of internet-based brokerages, clients focused largely on their cost structures. Today, rising technologies and competition have standardized many financial incentives, such as commission-free trading. Therefore, you should pick brokerages based on their functional capacity and access.

If you need a little guidance, you should choose among the best brokers below.

Step 2: Decide how many shares you want.

Your share count will go a long way in determining the risk-reward profile for a particular position. Higher counts enable you to accrue more financial rewards but also expose you to greater risk. Therefore, choose a balanced number that you’ll be comfortable with.

Step 3: Choose your order type.

Before placing your trade, familiarize yourself with these key market concepts:

• Bid: The highest price a buyer will offer, the bid is always lower than the ask.
• Ask: The lowest price a seller will accept, the ask is always higher than the bid.
• Spread: The variance in the bid-ask price, the spread offers also indicates liquidity and risk. Narrower spreads signal bulls’ and bears’ willingness to negotiate, leading to higher liquidity and lower risk. The opposite is true for wider spreads.
• Limit order: A request for fulfillment at a specific price, limit orders offer pricing transparency but no execution guarantees.
• Market order: In contrast, a market order ensures fulfillment at the prevailing rate at the least favorable terms (such as buy orders on the ask).
• Stop-loss order: A downside mitigation mechanism, stop-loss orders will fulfill at either a predetermined price or any price lower than the requested rate.
• Stop-limit order: To eliminate exit pricing vagaries, stop-limit orders only exit your position at a predetermined price. However, such orders risk nonfulfillment because of the no-execution guarantee.

Step 4: Execute your trade. 

To execute a market order, follow these steps:

1. Select your action type (buy or sell).
2. Enter the shares you want to acquire (or sell).
3. Hit the Buy (or Sell) button.

Limit orders use the same sequence above, with the exception of desired execution price inputs on your preferred financial instruments.

A Potentially Profitable (and Delectable) Stock

Although Dole’s stock lacks the pizzazz of tech-based offerings that are launching on the same day, the agricultural food producer provides a compelling argument for astute investors. Levered to a critical industry, Dole is permanently relevant. Moreover, circumstances related to the pandemic — such as recognizing the need for healthier eating habits and sustainable growth — offer support for DOLE stock.