Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.60.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVY. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Avery Dennison from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $2,358,412.65. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Avery Dennison

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 1.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 19,954 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $1,209,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 7.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,918 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Avery Dennison in the first quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:AVY traded down $2.66 on Wednesday, hitting $177.64. The stock had a trading volume of 586,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 612,831. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison has a 52 week low of $157.00 and a 52 week high of $233.48. The business's fifty day moving average is $173.93 and its 200 day moving average is $184.47. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.32%.

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.