Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 485.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 35,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,715,000 after acquiring an additional 29,541 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter worth $4,263,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Avery Dennison by 12.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 420,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,771,000 after purchasing an additional 46,390 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. 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 12,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $2,358,412.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 303,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,160,742.35. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $170.98 on Friday. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12-month low of $157.00 and a 12-month high of $233.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $177.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $13.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. On average, research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AVY shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target (down previously from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.87.

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.