Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms "Hold" Rating for Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reaffirmed a "hold" rating for Avantor (AVTR), while other analysts have varied in their assessments, with ratings ranging from buy to hold.
• Avantor's stock has recently fallen 15.4% to $11.37, and the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.24 per share, missing expectations.
• Insider activity showed Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares at an average cost of $12.50 each, indicating a 42.86% increase in his position.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports.

AVTR has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.23.

Avantor Stock Down 15.4%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $11.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Avantor has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $27.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have bought 75,000 shares of company stock worth $928,000 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Avantor by 288.4% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Avantor during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 121.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.