Fruth Investment Management Sells 100 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Fruth Investment Management reduced its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVY. Choreo LLC grew its position in Avery Dennison by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 290,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,363,000 after acquiring an additional 20,192 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 15,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 8,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AVY shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.15.

Insider Activity

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $757,874.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,126 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AVY opened at $184.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.89. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52 week low of $179.20 and a 52 week high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. On average, analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.37%.

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.