Insider Buying: American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) Director Purchases 25,000 Shares of Stock

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) Director Patrick Gottschalk acquired 25,000 shares of American Vanguard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.70 per share, with a total value of $67,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 191,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,603.50. This trade represents a 15.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

American Vanguard Price Performance

AVD stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.67. The company had a trading volume of 159,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,420. The company has a market capitalization of $76.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.68 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.95. American Vanguard Corporation has a 1-year low of $2.05 and a 1-year high of $5.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.08). American Vanguard had a negative return on equity of 4.13% and a negative net margin of 8.71%.The business had revenue of $123.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.00 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Vanguard

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,700,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after purchasing an additional 71,632 shares in the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 12.1% during the third quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 1,398,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,030,000 after purchasing an additional 150,703 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 2.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 639,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. EVR Research LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Vanguard by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 618,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 278,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Vanguard during the fourth quarter valued at $1,751,000. 79.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded American Vanguard from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Vanguard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements.

The company’s product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names.