Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $17.33 and last traded at $17.2950, with a volume of 11,633,887 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVTR. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Avantor from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Avantor from $8.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Avantor from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Avantor in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $10.50 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.06.

Avantor Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of -20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 8.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth about $695,784,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $195,386,000. Engine Capital Management LP increased its stake in Avantor by 65.8% during the 1st quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 19,780,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,082,000 after buying an additional 7,853,018 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Avantor by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,894,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,443,000 after buying an additional 2,288,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,795,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc is a global provider of mission-critical products and services used in the life sciences, healthcare, education, and advanced technology industries. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables, equipment, and other materials used in research, development, manufacturing, and quality-control activities.

Avantor also provides specialized solutions for biopharmaceutical production, including materials and services that support drug development, biologics manufacturing, and other bioprocessing applications.