Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.60.

Several research analysts recently commented on AVY shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Argus cut Avery Dennison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $183.93 on Wednesday. Avery Dennison has a fifty-two week low of $157.00 and a fifty-two week high of $233.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.97 and its 200 day moving average is $185.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is presently 43.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total value of $1,502,180.92. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 316,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,891,897. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,959,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,772,450,000 after purchasing an additional 277,554 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,249,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $756,262,000 after buying an additional 24,068 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,185,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $409,014,000 after acquiring an additional 250,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Avery Dennison by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $392,445,000 after purchasing an additional 13,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Avery Dennison by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,841,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $344,603,000 after buying an additional 71,435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

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.