Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVY. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Avery Dennison during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new position in Avery Dennison during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Avery Dennison by 25.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.36, for a total transaction of $1,775,396.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 321,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,878,414.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Avery Dennison news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.29, for a total value of $298,606.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,843 shares in the company, valued at $606,383.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.36, for a total value of $1,775,396.48. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 321,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,878,414.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,879 shares of company stock worth $4,217,705. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on AVY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $185.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Avery Dennison from $199.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.00.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

AVY opened at $212.42 on Thursday. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $158.93 and a 1 year high of $225.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.01. The firm has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.16. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 6.01%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Avery Dennison’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

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.