Earnest Partners LLC Grows Position in Avnet, Inc. $AVT

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its ownership in Avnet, Inc. by 3.4% during Q1, now holding 1,520,075 shares worth approximately $73 million.
• Avnet reported a quarterly EPS of $0.81, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.72, with revenue up 1.0% year-over-year to $5.62 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.35 per share, signaling a strong return to shareholders, with a yield of 2.5%.

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,520,075 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 50,041 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.81% of Avnet worth $73,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVT. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avnet by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,880,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,631,000 after purchasing an additional 378,440 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Avnet by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,581,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,131,000 after purchasing an additional 134,372 shares in the last quarter. Lind Value II ApS increased its stake in Avnet by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Lind Value II ApS now owns 1,003,897 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,277,000 after purchasing an additional 135,135 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Avnet by 5.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 944,148 shares of the company's stock worth $45,404,000 after acquiring an additional 48,221 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Avnet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,097,000. Institutional investors own 95.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Avnet from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avnet currently has a consensus rating of "Sell" and an average target price of $49.00.

Avnet Price Performance

AVT traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $54.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 598,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,099. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Avnet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.22 and a 12 month high of $59.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50-day moving average price is $54.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.95.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.09. Avnet had a net margin of 1.08% and a return on equity of 6.07%. The business had revenue of $5.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Avnet, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Avnet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Avnet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Avnet Profile

Avnet, Inc, distributes electronic component technology. The company operates through two segments, Electronic Components and Farnell. The Electronic Components segment markets, sells, and distributes semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical components; and other integrated components from electronic component manufacturers.