Insider Buying: American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) Director Purchases $67,500.00 in Stock

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) Director Patrick Gottschalk purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.70 per share, with a total value of $67,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 191,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,603.50. This trade represents a 15.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

American Vanguard Stock Performance

NYSE AVD opened at $2.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $81.97 million, a PE ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. American Vanguard Corporation has a twelve month low of $2.05 and a twelve month high of $5.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.93.

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $123.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.00 million. American Vanguard had a negative return on equity of 4.13% and a negative net margin of 8.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Vanguard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in American Vanguard by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,700,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after acquiring an additional 71,632 shares during the period. Cove Street Capital LLC boosted its holdings in American Vanguard by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 1,398,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,030,000 after acquiring an additional 150,703 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Vanguard by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 639,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 13,657 shares during the period. EVR Research LP boosted its holdings in American Vanguard by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 618,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after acquiring an additional 278,657 shares during the period. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Vanguard during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,751,000. 79.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut American Vanguard from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE: AVD) is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products for crop protection, turf and ornamental care, and public health pest control. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company offers a portfolio of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides designed for use across agricultural, turf and urban pest management applications. Its research and development efforts focus on novel chemistries and formulation technologies that address emerging pest resistance and regulatory requirements.

The company’s product lines include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, granular formulations, baits and liquid concentrates sold under proprietary brand names.