Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,317 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.16% of Avery Dennison worth $27,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVY. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Avery Dennison by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the third quarter worth $36,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the second quarter worth about $42,000. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AVY. Bank of America upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $207.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.96.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Avery Dennison stock opened at $195.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.60. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $193.49 and a 1 year high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $757,874.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.