Richelieu Gestion SA Reduces Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Richelieu Gestion SA lessened its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 36.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 873 shares during the period. Richelieu Gestion SA’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 164.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 185.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 250.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Avery Dennison

In related news, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total value of $684,510.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,824.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total transaction of $684,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,824.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 2,206 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.70, for a total transaction of $500,100.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,489.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,583 shares of company stock valued at $2,856,353 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AVY shares. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.50.

Avery Dennison Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AVY traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $224.11. The stock had a trading volume of 107,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,225. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $163.83 and a 1 year high of $231.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.41 and its 200-day moving average is $213.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.91.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 32.59%. Research analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.39%.

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.