Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the October 31st total of 2,000,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 532,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com lowered Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $757,874.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $459,621,000 after acquiring an additional 157,754 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 795.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 160,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,190,000 after purchasing an additional 142,348 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Avery Dennison by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 216,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,258,000 after purchasing an additional 138,808 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,416,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,772,000 after purchasing an additional 90,250 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 2,629.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,278,000 after buying an additional 88,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Shares of AVY stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $205.11. The stock had a trading volume of 796,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.87. Avery Dennison has a twelve month low of $190.04 and a twelve month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.26%.

About Avery Dennison

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.