HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys New Shares in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVY. Walden Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter worth approximately $286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 31,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 645,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,539,000 after acquiring an additional 156,189 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at $1,057,000. Finally, Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 7,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Avery Dennison from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.50.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

AVY opened at $226.94 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.76 and a 200 day moving average of $212.40. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52-week low of $163.83 and a 52-week high of $230.43.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 32.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. This is an increase from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is currently 51.39%.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total value of $684,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,824.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 584 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.31, for a total transaction of $129,245.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,939.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total value of $684,510.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,824.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $2,856,353. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.