Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $227.15.

AVY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $208.00 target price (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE:AVY traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $183.08. 512,883 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 776,117. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $189.40 and a 200 day moving average of $203.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison has a 1-year low of $178.72 and a 1-year high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.37%.

Insider Transactions at Avery Dennison

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $757,874.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,681,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,811,738,000 after buying an additional 33,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $392,445,000 after buying an additional 13,815 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 6.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,416,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $312,772,000 after buying an additional 90,250 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,643,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 926,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $173,385,000 after buying an additional 66,216 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.