Short Interest in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Increases By 5.7%

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 431,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on 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. lifted their price target on Avery Dennison from $185.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $199.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.00.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AVY traded down $0.98 on Wednesday, reaching $210.11. The stock had a trading volume of 184,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $214.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.92. Avery Dennison has a 12-month low of $158.93 and a 12-month high of $225.26.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 30.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Avery Dennison will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total transaction of $1,069,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,305,217.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total value of $1,069,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,305,217.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.36, for a total value of $1,775,396.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 321,487 shares in the company, valued at $69,878,414.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,879 shares of company stock worth $4,217,705 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avery Dennison

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Avery Dennison by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $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% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,530,000 after acquiring an additional 10,370 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.