Pzena Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Avnet, Inc. $AVT

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,120,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,153,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Avnet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Avnet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,865,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Avnet by 255.2% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 41,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,011,000 after buying an additional 30,052 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Avnet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,400,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Avnet by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,811,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,161,000 after acquiring an additional 197,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avnet from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avnet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised Avnet from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avnet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.25.

Insider Transactions at Avnet

In related news, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.46, for a total transaction of $5,110,074.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 168,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,632,158.58. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Avnet Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVT opened at $98.63 on Tuesday. Avnet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.25 and a 12-month high of $100.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.56 billion. Avnet had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.21%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. Avnet has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.900 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Avnet, Inc. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Avnet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is 35.09%.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc (NASDAQ: AVT) is a global technology distributor and solutions provider specializing in the sourcing, design, and supply chain management of electronic components and embedded systems. The company offers a broad portfolio of semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components, as well as embedded hardware and software, cloud solutions, and Internet of Things (IoT) services. Avnet’s offerings aim to support customers through every stage of the product lifecycle, from initial prototype and design to production and end-of-life management.

Founded in 1921 by Charles Avnet, the company has evolved from a regional radio parts supplier into a multinational enterprise.