KBC Group NV Purchases 2,844 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

KBC Group NV grew its position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,844 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $3,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.6% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVY has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price (down previously from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,956. The trade was a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE AVY opened at $185.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.89. Avery Dennison Co. has a fifty-two week low of $179.20 and a fifty-two week high of $233.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is presently 42.26%.

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.