Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Shares Purchased by Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 795.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,594 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 485.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 35,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,715,000 after buying an additional 29,541 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,263,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $2,358,412.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares in the company, valued at $55,160,742.35. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

AVY opened at $170.94 on Tuesday. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1-year low of $157.00 and a 1-year high of $233.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.45. The company has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Research analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $208.00 to $194.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.80.

Avery Dennison 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.