Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Short Interest Down 12.0% in April

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a decrease of 12.0% from the March 31st total of 3,160,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 596,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Avnet Stock Up 1.4 %

Avnet stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.78. 192,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 564,417. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.35. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 6.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 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. Avnet has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $51.65.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. Avnet had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 2.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Avnet will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Avnet’s payout ratio is 17.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avnet by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,519,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,945,000 after buying an additional 135,171 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Avnet by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,730,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,711,000 after purchasing an additional 42,234 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Avnet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,253,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,175,000 after purchasing an additional 157,709 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in Avnet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,834,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 62,710 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Avnet by 5.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,077,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,303,000 after acquiring an additional 154,700 shares during the period. 95.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avnet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.50.

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.