Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,175 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $2,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 195.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,811 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 86.5% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,114,000 after purchasing an additional 15,092 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the second quarter worth $543,000. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 1.0% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 462,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,034,000 after purchasing an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 11.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,587,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVY shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $757,874.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This represents a 34.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

NYSE:AVY opened at $205.15 on Friday. Avery Dennison Co. has a one year low of $188.92 and a one year high of $233.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.25.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 7.76% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.26%.

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.