HTLF Bank Acquires Shares of 1,488 Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVY. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,530,000 after buying an additional 10,370 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 61.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 2.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julia A. Stewart sold 5,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.26, for a total transaction of $1,074,202.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,940.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Julia A. Stewart sold 5,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.26, for a total transaction of $1,074,202.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,940.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total value of $1,069,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,305,217.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,879 shares of company stock valued at $4,217,705 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $185.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Avery Dennison from $199.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.00.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE:AVY opened at $211.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.04. Avery Dennison Co. has a fifty-two week low of $158.93 and a fifty-two week high of $225.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.27. The company has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.16. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 30.97%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Avery Dennison’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Avery Dennison 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.