Short Interest in Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) Decreases By 12.0%

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

Avnet Stock Performance

Shares of AVT stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.10. The stock had a trading volume of 534,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,331. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 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 twelve month low of $39.64 and a twelve month high of $51.65.

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

Avnet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.13%.

Institutional Trading of Avnet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVT. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avnet in the first quarter worth approximately $274,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avnet in the first quarter worth approximately $337,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Avnet by 18.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 46,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 7,440 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Avnet in the first quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Avnet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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