Avery Dennison Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.88 (NYSE:AVY)

Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of 0.88 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th.

Avery Dennison has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Avery Dennison has a payout ratio of 30.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Avery Dennison to earn $10.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.0%.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

AVY traded up $3.36 on Friday, hitting $185.85. 1,500,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,268. Avery Dennison has a fifty-two week low of $179.20 and a fifty-two week high of $233.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.54 and its 200 day moving average is $206.34.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nicholas Colisto sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $757,874.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,956. This trade represents a 34.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.96.

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.