Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Short Interest Update

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the March 15th total of 2,950,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 592,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Avnet Price Performance

Avnet stock opened at $46.59 on Thursday. Avnet has a 52 week low of $39.64 and a 52 week high of $51.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. Avnet had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 2.62%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Avnet will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Avnet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avnet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Avnet by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,812,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,893,000 after buying an additional 49,576 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Avnet by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,062,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,622,000 after purchasing an additional 335,696 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avnet by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,730,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,711,000 after purchasing an additional 42,234 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Avnet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,253,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,175,000 after purchasing an additional 157,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in Avnet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,834,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 62,710 shares during the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Avnet from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avnet has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc, distributes electronic component technology. The company operates through two segments, Electronic Components and Farnell. The Electronic Components segment markets, sells, and distributes semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical components; and other integrated components from electronic component manufacturers.