Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the March 15th total of 2,950,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 592,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avnet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Avnet Price Performance

Shares of AVT stock opened at $47.09 on Tuesday. Avnet has a twelve month low of $39.64 and a twelve month high of $51.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 6.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.37.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. Avnet had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 13.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avnet will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.13%.

Institutional Trading of Avnet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Avnet during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Avnet by 330.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Avnet by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new position in shares of Avnet during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Avnet during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 95.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avnet Company Profile

Avnet, Inc, distributes electronic component technology. The company operates through two segments, Electronic Components and Farnell. The Electronic Components segment markets, sells, and distributes semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical components; and other integrated components from electronic component manufacturers.