Shares of Avery Dennison Corp., the office- supply manufacturer, dropped the most in more than three months Tuesday after the company’s preliminary fourth-quarter earnings and 2012 forecast trailed analysts’ estimates.
Avery Dennison, based in Pasadena, California, fell 5.4 percent to $27.15 at the close in New York, for the steepest decline since Oct. 19.
The company, which this month announced plans to sell its office and consumer-products arm, said it probably earned 36 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Profit in 2012 may be $1.80 to $2.15 due to “uncertainty, particularly in Europe,” Chief Financial Officer Mitchell Butier said on a call. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey had estimated 46 cents and $2.72 respectively.
“The earnings dilution from selling the office-products division was much greater than people initially thought,” said Ghansham Panjabi, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. in New York, who has a “neutral” rating on the shares.
Avery Dennison is selling the unit to 3M Co.
David Frail, a spokesman for Avery Dennison, didn’t have a comment.
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