Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 1.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 250,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $57,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVY. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,556,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 314,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,664,000 after buying an additional 12,091 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 32,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total value of $2,137,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,004,367.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total transaction of $1,550,396.96. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,333,345.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.75, for a total value of $2,137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,004,367.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,108 shares of company stock valued at $12,545,087. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVY. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (down previously from $254.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Avery Dennison in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $274.60 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.36.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Avery Dennison stock opened at $218.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $215.32 and a 200-day moving average of $218.87. The stock has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52 week low of $165.21 and a 52 week high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.44% and a net margin of 7.34%. Avery Dennison’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 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.