Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Short Interest Up 16.8% in June

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,530,000 shares, an increase of 16.8% from the May 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 431,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $248.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Avery Dennison from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Francisco Melo sold 3,750 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.00, for a total transaction of $851,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,457,210. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Francisco Melo sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.00, for a total transaction of $851,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,457,210. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gregory Lovins sold 2,894 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.20, for a total transaction of $657,516.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,326,230.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,583 shares of company stock worth $2,856,353 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 22.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,670,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,857,000 after purchasing an additional 493,857 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,788,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,673,000 after buying an additional 639,521 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 4,159.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,191,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $240,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,264 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,019,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $227,660,000 after acquiring an additional 35,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

AVY stock opened at $215.15 on Wednesday. Avery Dennison has a 1 year low of $165.21 and a 1 year high of $231.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $224.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.85.

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

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were given a $0.88 dividend. This is a boost from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.39%.

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.