Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $230.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

AVY opened at $218.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.91. Avery Dennison has a 1-year low of $163.83 and a 1-year high of $231.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 32.59%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This is an increase from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.38, for a total transaction of $33,730.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $477,661.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Francisco Melo sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.00, for a total value of $851,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,457,210. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.38, for a total transaction of $33,730.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,661.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $2,856,353 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 22.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,670,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,857,000 after acquiring an additional 493,857 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,788,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,673,000 after purchasing an additional 639,521 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Avery Dennison by 4,159.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,191,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $240,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,264 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,019,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $227,660,000 after buying an additional 35,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth about $185,292,000. 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.