Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,012 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the first quarter worth approximately $306,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,583 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,423 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 15.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 89,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $19,902,000 after buying an additional 11,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVY. Bank of America raised shares of Avery Dennison from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $207.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Avery Dennison from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $262.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.21, for a total transaction of $2,142,100.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,144,259.94. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,108 shares of company stock valued at $5,821,497. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

AVY traded down $2.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $197.73. 460,247 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 467,218. Avery Dennison Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.66 and a fifty-two week high of $233.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $213.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.66.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 7.76% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Avery Dennison's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.26%.

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.