Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Makes New $548,000 Investment in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVY. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.3% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 12,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,163,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 6,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group lowered Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $274.60 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $252.00 target price (down from $254.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total transaction of $1,550,396.96. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at $66,333,345.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total value of $1,550,396.96. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,333,345.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total transaction of $2,137,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,004,367.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,108 shares of company stock worth $12,545,087. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Avery Dennison stock opened at $222.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.28 and a 200-day moving average of $218.89. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52-week low of $165.21 and a 52-week high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.16. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.44% and a net margin of 7.34%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 51.39%.

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.