Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.75 and last traded at $17.04, with a volume of 884754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.92.

Avantor Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.51 and a 200 day moving average of $22.69. The stock has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,712,000. American Trust raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 15,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 43,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 10,764 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $417,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 88,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 5,748 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Company Profile

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.