Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 17.8%, now owning 9,591,950 shares, making it 12th among its largest holdings.
• Avantor reported a quarterly EPS of $0.24, slightly below analysts' expectations, while its revenue was $1.68 billion, indicating a 1.1% decline year-over-year.
• Recent analyst reports have seen a decrease in price targets for Avantor, with Wells Fargo lowering its target from $19.00 to $16.00, reflecting a generally cautious outlook.

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,591,950 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,446,125 shares during the quarter. Avantor makes up approximately 3.1% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned about 1.41% of Avantor worth $155,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 52.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Avantor by 19.8% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avantor Trading Up 0.5%

Avantor stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,553,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,578,789. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.82 and a 12 month high of $27.83. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, August 4th. Cowen cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

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.