Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Avnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Avnet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.25.

Avnet Price Performance

Shares of AVT opened at $91.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.76. Avnet has a 1-year low of $44.25 and a 1-year high of $108.63.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.48. Avnet had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Avnet has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 37.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avnet news, SVP Michael Ryan Mccoy sold 32,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,985,001.40. This represents a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Philip Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $16,632,158.58. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avnet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Avnet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Avnet during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Avnet by 38.5% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 666 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in Avnet by 32.1% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 765 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Avnet during the second quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 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.