Focus Partners Wealth Grows Stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 134.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AVY opened at $183.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.52. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $157.00 and a 1 year high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.02). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 43.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Argus downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Avery Dennison from $208.00 to $194.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total transaction of $1,502,180.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 316,300 shares in the company, valued at $58,891,897. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avery Dennison Company Profile

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.