Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target Lowered to $12.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Avantor's price target has been reduced from $14.00 to $12.00 by Stifel Nicolaus, indicating a potential upside of 5.22% from its current price, along with a "hold" rating on the stock.
• Other analysts have also cut their price targets for Avantor, with significant reductions from Evercore ISI to $16.00 and Wells Fargo to $16.00, while Morgan Stanley set their target at $12.00.
• Avantor's shares recently traded at $11.41, experiencing a 1.1% year-over-year revenue decline despite reporting earnings per share of $0.24, slightly missing the consensus estimate.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.22% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AVTR. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.05 on Monday, reaching $11.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,855,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,518,722. The stock's 50-day moving average is $13.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.39. Avantor has a 52-week low of $10.82 and a 52-week high of $27.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 75,000 shares of company stock worth $928,000. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after buying an additional 30,727,673 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 89.8% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 18,127,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,842,000 after buying an additional 8,578,493 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,034,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,502,000 after buying an additional 4,876,524 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,963,000 after buying an additional 2,983,439 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,992,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,323,000 after buying an additional 2,316,813 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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