Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Stake Raised by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,204 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 0.58% of Avery Dennison worth $94,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,556,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 3,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 68,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,942,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 36,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,477,000 after buying an additional 7,766 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Avery Dennison from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total transaction of $1,069,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,305,217.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total transaction of $684,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,577 shares in the company, valued at $359,824.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.90, for a total value of $1,069,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,305,217.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,212 shares of company stock valued at $5,336,779 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Avery Dennison stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $227.05. 197,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,676. The firm has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $219.53 and a 200 day moving average of $207.10. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $158.93 and a 12 month high of $229.98.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 32.59% and a net margin of 6.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. This is a boost from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.30%.

Avery Dennison 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.