Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on AVTR. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Avantor from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.39.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $7.97. The company had a trading volume of 9,500,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,091,983. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a 1 year low of $7.26 and a 1 year high of $15.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Avantor’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $940,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra purchased 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 475,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,804,750. This trade represents a 35.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 275,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,399,250. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 9.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 28.1% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 38,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 7.7% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 14,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.