Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,990,000 shares, a drop of 6.1% from the January 15th total of 28,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.92.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,866 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,080 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,599 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,405,000 after purchasing an additional 9,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 104,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $17.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.08. Avantor has a twelve month low of $17.19 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28.

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