Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $222.51.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AVY shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price target on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price target (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $175.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $185.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison has a 12 month low of $174.91 and a 12 month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 40.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the 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 owns 303,331 shares in the company, valued at $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 485.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 35,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,715,000 after buying an additional 29,541 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 6.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,416,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,772,000 after purchasing an additional 90,250 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 553.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,263,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 12.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 420,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,771,000 after purchasing an additional 46,390 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Company Profile

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.