Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the March 15th total of 2,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 592,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Avnet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVT. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Avnet during the first quarter worth $29,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avnet by 330.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 641 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Avnet by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Avnet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Avnet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avnet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Avnet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Avnet stock opened at $46.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.35. Avnet has a 1 year low of $39.64 and a 1 year high of $51.65.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. Avnet had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 2.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avnet will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Avnet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.13%.

Avnet Company Profile

Avnet, Inc, distributes electronic component technology. The company operates through two segments, Electronic Components and Farnell. The Electronic Components segment markets, sells, and distributes semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical components; and other integrated components from electronic component manufacturers.