Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $8.88 and last traded at $8.8750, with a volume of 2694586 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on Avantor in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Avantor Stock Down 1.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.10. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra bought 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sector Gamma AS increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 477,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,954,000 after purchasing an additional 104,466 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,528,000. Voss Capital LP bought a new position in Avantor in the second quarter worth $6,057,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,248,000. Finally, Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 110,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 58,304 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.