American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Lake Street Capital

Equities researchers at Lake Street Capital started coverage on shares of American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Lake Street Capital’s price objective points to a potential upside of 50.38% from the stock’s previous close.

AVD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Loop Capital upped their target price on American Vanguard from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Vanguard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Vanguard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

American Vanguard Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of American Vanguard stock opened at $9.31 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. American Vanguard has a 12-month low of $7.94 and a 12-month high of $18.26. The company has a market cap of $260.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81 and a beta of 0.91.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $135.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.20 million. American Vanguard had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 2.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Vanguard will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Vanguard

In other American Vanguard news, Director Steven D. Macicek purchased 8,500 shares of American Vanguard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.01 per share, for a total transaction of $76,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,496.44. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Vanguard news, Director Steven D. Macicek purchased 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.01 per share, for a total transaction of $76,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,496.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ulrich Trogele acquired 18,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $159,250.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 209,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,836,415. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 10.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Vanguard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 288.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 12,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 8,954 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 492.4% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in American Vanguard in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 251.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 178,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 127,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Vanguard in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.04% of the company’s stock.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection.