Stevanato Group (NYSE:STVN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at €17.36, but opened at €18.05. Stevanato Group shares last traded at €18.39, with a volume of 7,580 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on STVN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stevanato Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Stevanato Group in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Stevanato Group from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Stevanato Group from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Stevanato Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Stevanato Group Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of €17.56 and a 200 day moving average price of €17.19. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.78.

Stevanato Group (NYSE:STVN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported €0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of €0.12 by (€0.01). Stevanato Group had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company had revenue of €273.57 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Stevanato Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stevanato Group S.p.A. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Stevanato Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.054 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 31.0%.

Insider Activity at Stevanato Group

In related news, Director Madhavan Balachandran sold 1,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of €17.09, for a total value of €25,515.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 69,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately €1,187,037.22. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Donald E. Morel, Jr. sold 1,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of €17.09, for a total value of €25,515.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately €639,576.16. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,972 shares of company stock worth $102,061.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stevanato Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stevanato Group by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,491,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,762,000 after purchasing an additional 602,050 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Stevanato Group by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,923,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,944,000 after buying an additional 368,792 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Stevanato Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 3,500,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,426,000 after buying an additional 232,645 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in Stevanato Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,001,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,275,000 after buying an additional 27,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Stevanato Group by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,772,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,671,000 after buying an additional 213,602 shares in the last quarter.

Stevanato Group Company Profile

Stevanato Group is a global provider of primary packaging solutions and related services for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacturing of glass drug containers such as vials, cartridges and pre-fillable syringes, as well as advanced inspection systems and assembly equipment. Its integrated offerings cover the entire packaging supply chain, from component production to bespoke filling lines and serialization technology.

In addition to its core glass business, Stevanato Group delivers engineering services and process validation support to pharmaceutical customers.