Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $29.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Avantor traded as high as $26.26 and last traded at $26.13, with a volume of 6132670 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.60.

AVTR has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Avantor by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 359,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,623,000 after acquiring an additional 7,156 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 101,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 199,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,234,000 after purchasing an additional 9,449 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $514,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,353,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 67.10, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.65.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.