Short Interest in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Expands By 7.0%

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

Insider Transactions at Avery Dennison

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $757,874.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,956. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVY. Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 13,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Avery Dennison by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 14,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVY. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Avery Dennison from $252.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.05.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AVY opened at $191.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.61. 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 market cap of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.89. Avery Dennison has a fifty-two week low of $181.99 and a fifty-two week high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 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.