Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Avnet from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.25.

Avnet Stock Up 4.6%

NASDAQ:AVT opened at $106.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.06. Avnet has a 1-year low of $44.25 and a 1-year high of $108.63. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.64.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 forecast that Avnet will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Avnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

Insider Activity at Avnet

In related news, SVP Michael Ryan Mccoy sold 32,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.10, for a total transaction of $2,919,937.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 76,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,985,001.40. This trade represents a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of Avnet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.46, for a total transaction of $5,110,074.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avnet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $916,146,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Avnet during the second quarter worth approximately $277,153,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Avnet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,393,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Avnet during the second quarter valued at approximately $91,844,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Avnet during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,897,000. Institutional investors own 95.78% of the company’s stock.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc is a global technology distributor and solutions provider that connects electronic component manufacturers with customers ranging from original equipment manufacturers and contract manufacturers to design engineers and startups. The company distributes semiconductors, interconnect products, passive and electromechanical components, and embedded computing products used in industrial, automotive, communications, aerospace and defense, healthcare, and consumer applications.

In addition to component distribution, Avnet provides engineering and design support, embedded systems, product customization, supply chain management, logistics, and other services intended to help customers move products from concept and prototyping through production.