Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Short Interest Up 7.0% in December

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 15th total of 1,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 542,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $757,874.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVY. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 100.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Avery Dennison in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 1,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the third quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

NYSE:AVY traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $191.07. 623,810 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 501,975. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.79. Avery Dennison has a 1 year low of $181.99 and a 1 year high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is currently 42.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVY. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $258.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.05.

About Avery Dennison

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.