Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AVTR. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Avantor from $8.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore set a $10.50 price objective on Avantor in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.45, a PEG ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a one year low of $7.26 and a one year high of $15.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.81% and a positive return on equity of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Avantor will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

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

Avantor News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue beat expectations. Avantor reported adjusted EPS of $0.21 versus the $0.19 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.692 billion versus expectations of $1.61 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $254.3 million, operating cash flow was $178.2 million and free cash flow was $142.8 million. Avantor Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised full-year 2026 guidance. Avantor now expects adjusted EPS of $0.80-$0.83, above the prior consensus estimate of $0.79, and increased its organic revenue outlook. The company also continues targeting adjusted net leverage below 3x, supporting the deleveraging narrative. Avantor 2026 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: VWR showed signs of recovery. The VWR segment returned to organic growth earlier than expected, while segment execution and strategic initiatives helped support the guidance increase. The earnings beat initially drove a gap higher in AVTR shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted price targets. Wells Fargo raised its target to $16 and maintained an overweight rating, while Stifel increased its target to $15 and Morgan Stanley raised its target to $14, although both retained neutral ratings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Growth remains modest. Second-quarter sales increased just 0.5% year over year, while organic revenue declined 0.4%, indicating that the recovery is still uneven.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability comparisons weakened. Adjusted EPS declined from $0.24 a year earlier, and Avantor reported a $0.06 GAAP EPS result alongside a negative net margin. Jefferies upgraded the stock only to hold with a $13 target, suggesting limited upside after the recent rally.

Avantor Company Profile

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.