Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 27.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,905 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $3,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth $1,213,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Avery Dennison by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 181,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after acquiring an additional 63,716 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Avery Dennison by 195.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 11,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Avery Dennison by 270.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 21,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,307,000 after acquiring an additional 15,749 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVY. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.60 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $256.00 to $254.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lowered shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 2,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.70, for a total value of $500,100.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,605,489.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 2,206 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.70, for a total value of $500,100.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,489.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $65,004,367.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,463 shares of company stock worth $13,078,918. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

AVY stock opened at $221.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $165.21 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The company has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $215.83 and a 200 day moving average of $218.18.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.44% and a net margin of 7.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.39%.

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.