Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AVY. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Avery Dennison in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.60.

Avery Dennison Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $177.64 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.94. Avery Dennison has a 52 week low of $157.00 and a 52 week high of $233.48. 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 cap of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. Avery Dennison’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avery Dennison

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 11,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Avery Dennison by 17.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 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.