StockNews.com Lowers Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.60 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays initiated coverage on Avery Dennison in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.42.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:AVY opened at $207.16 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $216.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.44. Avery Dennison has a 52-week low of $165.21 and a 52-week high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.44% and a net margin of 7.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.95, for a total transaction of $608,850.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,719,936.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.95, for a total value of $608,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at $61,719,936.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total transaction of $1,550,396.96. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,333,345.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,108 shares of company stock worth $12,545,087 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 11,811 shares in the last quarter. Natixis lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 365.9% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 4,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the first quarter worth $2,935,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Avery Dennison by 86.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,114,000 after purchasing an additional 15,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 2nd quarter valued at $543,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Corporation operates as a materials science and digital identification solutions company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin, America, and internationally. It provides pressure-sensitive materials comprising papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics; performance tapes products, including tapes for wire harnessing, as well as cable wrapping for automotive, electrical, and general industrial applications; mechanical fasteners, which are precision-extruded and injection-molded plastic devices used in various automotive, general industrial, and retail applications; and other pressure-sensitive adhesive-based materials and converted products under the Fasson, JAC, Yongle, and Avery Dennison brands.