Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Short Interest Update

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 15th total of 1,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 542,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 7,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avery Dennison

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Avery Dennison by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $459,621,000 after acquiring an additional 157,754 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 6.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,416,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,772,000 after purchasing an additional 90,250 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Avery Dennison by 2,629.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,278,000 after buying an additional 88,491 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,733,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 420,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,771,000 after buying an additional 46,390 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVY. StockNews.com downgraded Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.05.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of AVY opened at $191.07 on Tuesday. Avery Dennison has a 12 month low of $181.99 and a 12 month high of $233.48. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.61. The company has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.89.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 7.76% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. 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.