Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 617,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,670 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.77% of Avery Dennison worth $136,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $757,874.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Avery Dennison from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $207.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.96.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of Avery Dennison stock opened at $188.13 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $185.73 and a 12 month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.26%.

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.