Dole plc is a NYSE-listed producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, operating through Fresh Fruit, Diversified Fresh Produce – EMEA, and Diversified Fresh Produce – Americas and ROW segments. Its analyst coverage is small but unusually divided. Five attributable targets inform the central figure: Davy (Outperform, $21.50), Freedom Capital Markets (Buy, $20, initiated in November 2026), Stephens (Equal Weight, $16), Deutsche Bank (Hold, $14, trimmed from $15 in August 2026), and Bank of America Securities (Sell, $14).
These five analyst price targets average about $17.10, which we round to a $17 central target. The range of $14 to $21.50 is exceptionally wide relative to the share price, so the average conceals a genuine split: cautious desks see little or no upside, while bullish desks argue the shares are meaningfully undervalued. No single official analyst consensus matches $17 exactly, and public aggregators have reported varying averages over time as coverage and target dates shifted.
With shares near $13.88, reaching $17 requires a gain of roughly 22%, a substantial move that would also take the stock to a fresh 52-week high above the recent peak near $16.57. The company has been reshaping itself: it sold its Fresh Vegetables division, transferred the Wahiawā Dam to the State of Hawaiʻi, sold an Ecuador port, and acquired Greenfood's Scandinavian fresh-produce business in mid-2026. Net leverage fell to about 1.3x, and the board authorized up to $100 million in repurchases. These steps support the bull case, but the path to $17 depends on sustaining adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) growth while managing volatile input costs.
A cleaner balance sheet and rising cash generation give Dole more flexibility to invest and return capital. Management has raised guidance in prior years and reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA of roughly $84 million, about 4% ahead of the prior year. The Greenfood acquisition strengthens the EMEA platform, and contractual pricing mechanisms, including fuel surcharges, partly offset higher North American costs. A forward P/E (price-to-earnings) ratio near 9 and a price-to-book ratio close to 1 leave room for multiple expansion if earnings visibility improves.
Fresh produce carries structurally low margins and heavy exposure to weather, freight, and currency swings. El Niño conditions have constrained banana and pineapple supply, the strong Costa Rican colón has raised production costs, and higher European shipping fuel is expected to pressure full-year 2026 results by roughly $16 million. A third-quarter 2026 EPS (earnings per share) miss weighed on the shares, illustrating how quickly sentiment can turn. If input costs persist or weather disrupts key export seasons from Chile and Peru, earnings estimates and the multiple could compress.
The stock trades near the middle of a 52-week range of about $12.59 to $16.57. The 200-day moving average near $14.27 has acted as overhead resistance, while the 50-day average near $13.29 provides nearby support. Because $17 sits above the 52-week high, reaching it would require a sustained breakout rather than a simple retracement, making the prior high near $16.50 a key intermediate hurdle.
Analyst targets generally reflect a research horizon of about 12 months, though individual firms do not always disclose their exact timeframe and assumptions differ sharply. Investors should watch quarterly earnings and guidance, banana and pineapple supply conditions, fuel and shipping costs, currency moves, progress on the Greenfood integration, and the pace of share repurchases. Any analyst target revisions or rating changes would also be directly relevant to the $17 figure.
Tickeron's AI Daily Buy/Sell Signals use artificial intelligence to continuously monitor thousands of stocks and ETFs, generating Buy, Sell, or Hold signals based on changing market conditions, technical behavior, and AI-driven analysis. Traders can use these signals to discover new opportunities, monitor existing positions, and spot emerging trends more efficiently than manual screening allows. As part of a broader research routine, the tool can help investors stay alert to shifts in names like DOLE.
The $17 central target, a rounded average of five verified analyst targets ranging from $14 to $21.50, implies a substantial gain of roughly 22% from a price near $13.88. The bull case rests on deleveraging, buybacks, strategic divestitures, and resilient adjusted EBITDA, while the bear case centers on weather, input-cost inflation, currency pressure, and thin margins. Because analyst views are so divided, the target is best understood as a midpoint of a wide and genuinely contested range rather than a forecast. Monitoring earnings, cost trends, and analyst revisions will be essential to assessing whether the shares can build a durable path toward $17.
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer.
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, DOLE has been loosely correlated with DMC. These tickers have moved in lockstep 56% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is some statistical probability that if DOLE jumps, then DMC could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To DOLE | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOLE | 100% | +1.78% | ||
| DMC - DOLE | 56% Loosely correlated | +1.09% | ||
| TSN - DOLE | 41% Loosely correlated | -0.70% | ||
| ALCO - DOLE | 27% Poorly correlated | +0.03% | ||
| LMNR - DOLE | 25% Poorly correlated | +0.19% | ||
| ADM - DOLE | 25% Poorly correlated | +2.34% | ||
More | ||||