Raiffeisen Bank International AG Takes Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,681,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,811,738,000 after buying an additional 33,149 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Avery Dennison by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,225,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $790,683,000 after acquiring an additional 150,572 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Avery Dennison by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,185,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $409,014,000 after purchasing an additional 250,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Avery Dennison by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $392,445,000 after purchasing an additional 13,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avery Dennison by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,841,520 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $344,603,000 after purchasing an additional 71,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AVY traded down $2.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.52. The company had a trading volume of 79,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $157.00 and a 12 month high of $233.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Argus lowered Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.60.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Profile

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.