Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Short Interest Up 7.0% in July

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,650,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the July 15th total of 3,410,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 613,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Avnet from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Avnet from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avnet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Avnet Stock Performance

AVT opened at $54.22 on Monday. Avnet has a 52-week low of $42.67 and a 52-week high of $55.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.14.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.27. Avnet had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avnet will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carlo Bozotti sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $629,843.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.74, for a total value of $1,612,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,507,961.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlo Bozotti sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $629,843.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,536,520. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avnet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Avnet by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its holdings in Avnet by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 109,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,617,000 after buying an additional 21,704 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Avnet by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 54,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after buying an additional 28,109 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Avnet by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 5,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Avnet by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,477,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,086,000 after buying an additional 34,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.78% of the company’s stock.

About Avnet

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.