Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.82 and last traded at $7.87, with a volume of 1146225 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $8.50 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.80.

Avantor Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.70 and a 200 day moving average of $11.84. 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 has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.28, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.97.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 10.45% and a negative net margin of 8.09%.Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.16 per share, with a total value of $458,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $458,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at $268,584,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth about $228,528,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Avantor by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,433,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,580,655,000 after buying an additional 17,170,761 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth about $159,669,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,188,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Company Profile

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.