Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $18.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Avantor traded as low as $15.37 and last traded at $15.50, with a volume of 9082310 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.87.

AVTR has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,089,001,000 after buying an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after buying an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 58.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after buying an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,251,000 after purchasing an additional 112,644 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.52. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.