Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY)

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,472 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,641% compared to the typical volume of 142 put options.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $209.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison has a 1-year low of $165.21 and a 1-year high of $233.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.16. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 34.05% and a net margin of 7.34%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison will post 9.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised their target price on Avery Dennison from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gregory Lovins sold 2,894 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.20, for a total transaction of $657,516.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,326,230.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.38, for a total value of $33,730.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,661.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gregory Lovins sold 2,894 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.20, for a total value of $657,516.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,326,230.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $2,856,353 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the second quarter worth $51,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 164.4% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the first quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 936.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avery Dennison Company 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.