Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,470,000 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the June 30th total of 19,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Avantor Stock Up 2.5 %

AVTR stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.25. The stock had a trading volume of 12,811,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,962,558. Avantor has a 1-year low of $16.63 and a 1-year high of $26.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.42 and a 200 day moving average of $23.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.29, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.32.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Avantor will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 710,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,054,000 after buying an additional 8,422 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Avantor by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 359,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,623,000 after acquiring an additional 7,156 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 4.0% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 101,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Avantor by 5.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 199,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,234,000 after purchasing an additional 9,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the second quarter worth about $514,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.00.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.