KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in Avery Dennison Corporation $AVY

Key Points

• KBC Group NV dramatically increased its stake in Avery Dennison, lifting its position by 1,119.4% in the first quarter to 248,133 shares valued at about $42.8 million.
• Avery Dennison’s latest quarter beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $2.47 EPS on $2.30 billion in revenue, while also issuing Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.43 to $2.53.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share from $0.94, putting the annualized payout at $4.00 and the yield at about 2.5%.

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 1,119.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 227,785 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.32% of Avery Dennison worth $42,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVY. CPC Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at $1,464,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 228,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,647,000 after purchasing an additional 107,109 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter worth about $2,546,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 169,137 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,857,000 after buying an additional 13,494 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 67,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,221,000 after buying an additional 24,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AVY. Raymond James Financial set a $192.00 target price on Avery Dennison in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $222.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $205.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus set a $175.00 target price on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.11.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

AVY stock opened at $158.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Avery Dennison Corporation has a 52-week low of $152.42 and a 52-week high of $199.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $159.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.36. The company has a market capitalization of $12.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.06. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.69% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Avery Dennison's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Avery Dennison has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.430-2.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Avery Dennison Corporation will post 10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Avery Dennison's payout ratio is currently 45.10%.

Avery Dennison Profile

Avery Dennison NYSE: AVY is a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in labeling and packaging solutions. The company develops pressure-sensitive materials, tags and labels, and adhesive technologies that help brands and businesses enhance product identification, branding and supply-chain performance. Avery Dennison's offerings range from industrial and retail labeling to high-performance tapes, films and graphics materials used across multiple end markets.

The company operates through several key segments, including Label and Graphic Materials, which supplies pressure-sensitive materials for consumer goods; Retail Branding and Information Solutions, offering apparel tags, RFID inlays and digital product identification; Pressure-Sensitive Materials, providing specialty tapes and adhesives; and RF Technologies, focused on advanced RFID and IoT labeling solutions.

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