Insider Buying: American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) Director Purchases $58,400.00 in Stock

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) Director Patrick Gottschalk bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.92 per share, for a total transaction of $58,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 146,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,378.60. The trade was a 15.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

American Vanguard Price Performance

AVD opened at $2.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.32. American Vanguard Corporation has a 1 year low of $2.05 and a 1 year high of $5.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.97 million, a PE ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,700,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 71,632 shares during the period. Cove Street Capital LLC raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 12.1% in the third quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 1,398,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,030,000 after buying an additional 150,703 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 639,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after buying an additional 13,657 shares during the period. EVR Research LP raised its holdings in American Vanguard by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 618,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after buying an additional 278,657 shares during the period. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Vanguard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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