Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $5,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AVY. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 11,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 5.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 4,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avery Dennison has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.60.

Avery Dennison Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $179.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $157.00 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $174.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.23.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total transaction of $1,502,180.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 316,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,891,897. This represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.84% 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.