Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus lowered Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Avery Dennison has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.60.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE AVY traded up $3.03 on Thursday, hitting $180.58. 170,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 774,221. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.93 and a 200 day moving average of $184.47. Avery Dennison has a twelve month low of $157.00 and a twelve month high of $233.48. The company has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. The business's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Avery Dennison

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth approximately $496,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Running Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 63,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,572 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,396,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.