Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.79 and last traded at $7.8250, with a volume of 3266576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 target price on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.80.

Avantor Price Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra purchased 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 475,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,804,750. This represents a 35.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.16 per share, with a total value of $458,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 275,000 shares of company stock worth $2,399,250 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 119.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Avantor by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 60.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.