Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVT. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avnet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avnet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.25.

Avnet Price Performance

AVT stock opened at $91.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.06. Avnet has a 12-month low of $44.25 and a 12-month high of $108.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.96.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.48. Avnet had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.21%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Avnet’s revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. Avnet has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avnet will post 10.45 EPS for the current year.

Avnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Avnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avnet

In other Avnet news, SVP Michael Ryan Mccoy sold 32,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.10, for a total value of $2,919,937.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 76,674 shares in the company, valued at $6,985,001.40. This trade represents a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of Avnet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.46, for a total value of $5,110,074.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 168,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,632,158.58. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVT. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Avnet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 48,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,813,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Avnet in the third quarter valued at approximately $254,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Avnet in the third quarter valued at approximately $283,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Avnet by 53.3% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Avnet in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.78% of the company’s stock.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc is a global technology distributor that helps manufacturers and design engineers source electronic components and develop products. The company supplies semiconductors, embedded processors, memory, connectivity products, sensors, power-management components and other electronic parts used in industrial, automotive, communications, computing, aerospace and defense applications.

In addition to component distribution, Avnet provides engineering and design services, supply-chain management, product customization, logistics, and technical support.