Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Adirondack Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America lowered Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $185.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $199.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total value of $1,069,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,217.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total value of $1,069,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,217.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.29, for a total transaction of $298,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $606,383.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,879 shares of company stock valued at $4,217,705 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Avery Dennison stock opened at $212.42 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $215.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $158.93 and a twelve month high of $225.26. The stock has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.90.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.26 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, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

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.