Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Avantor to “Strong-Buy” from “Buy.” However, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a $14.77 average price target.
• Avantor’s latest quarter beat earnings and revenue estimates: EPS was $0.22 versus $0.21 expected, and revenue reached $1.70 billion, up 4.6% year over year.
• Shares opened at $15.54, within a 52-week range of $7.26 to $17.45; institutional investors own about 95.1% of the stock.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.77.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock opened at $15.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.42. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.95. Avantor has a fifty-two week low of $7.26 and a fifty-two week high of $17.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 5.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the second quarter valued at $800,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth about $805,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 425.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,871 shares of the company's stock worth $5,513,000 after buying an additional 450,801 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,577,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,922,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc. is a global provider of products and services used in life sciences, advanced technology and applied materials. Its customers include biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies, laboratories, universities and manufacturers. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables and equipment, as well as materials used in biopharmaceutical production. Avantor also provides services such as procurement, inventory management and support for laboratory and production operations.

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