Novem Group Acquires New Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Novem Group acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVY. Truist Financial decreased 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. Argus downgraded Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Avery Dennison from $208.00 to $194.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Avery Dennison from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $2,358,412.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 303,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:AVY traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $179.45. The company had a trading volume of 80,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,338. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.45. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1-year low of $157.00 and a 1-year high of $233.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison's payout ratio 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.