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

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $220.87.

AVY has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price objective on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $2,358,412.65. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,681,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,811,738,000 after buying an additional 33,149 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,225,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $790,683,000 after acquiring an additional 150,572 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 12.9% during 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 grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 0.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 13,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $344,603,000 after purchasing an additional 71,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE:AVY opened at $166.12 on Tuesday. Avery Dennison has a twelve month low of $162.53 and a twelve month high of $233.48. The company has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $181.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.64.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is presently 40.37%.

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.