Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.75 and last traded at $17.04, with a volume of 884754 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AVTR shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.92.

Avantor Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.69. The firm has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 34.1% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 88,205 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Avantor by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,228,000 after purchasing an additional 493,408 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Avantor in the third quarter worth about $8,473,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $555,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 33,692 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.