First Manhattan CO. LLC. Makes New Investment in American Vanguard Corporation $AVD

First Manhattan CO. LLC. purchased a new position in American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 50,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned about 0.17% of American Vanguard at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of American Vanguard by 134.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 5,410 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Vanguard in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Vanguard in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Vanguard in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of American Vanguard by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 14,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered American Vanguard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Lake Street Capital dropped their price objective on American Vanguard from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, American Vanguard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

American Vanguard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AVD opened at $5.41 on Thursday. American Vanguard Corporation has a 12-month low of $3.28 and a 12-month high of $6.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.39.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.08. American Vanguard had a negative return on equity of 26.21% and a negative net margin of 23.72%.The firm had revenue of $129.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.00 million.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.