Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.90 and last traded at $18.12, with a volume of 6265783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.92.

Avantor Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.26.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Avantor by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Avantor by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 1.0% during the third quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 52,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is 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.