Metis Global Partners LLC Has $1.61 Million Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVY. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the 1st quarter valued at $205,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter valued at $416,000. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $320,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 48.0% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 158,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,296,000 after acquiring an additional 51,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised Avery Dennison from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $207.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.96.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total transaction of $1,550,396.96. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,333,345.68. This represents a 2.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 27,108 shares of company stock valued at $5,821,497 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

NYSE:AVY opened at $197.73 on Friday. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52 week low of $186.66 and a 52 week high of $233.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.79 and a 200-day moving average of $217.52.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior 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 research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 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.