Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Raymond James

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $24.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $26.00. Raymond James’ price target suggests a potential upside of 27.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.46.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,704,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,111,776. Avantor has a 1-year low of $18.49 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 4.54%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Avantor will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Avantor by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 717,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,123,000 after purchasing an additional 185,364 shares during the last quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. boosted its position in Avantor by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 805,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 48,626 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 12,221 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 77,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.