Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $2.22 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 318.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,824 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of Avient worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Avient during the first quarter worth about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Avient during the 1st quarter worth approximately $133,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Avient by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Down 2.6 %

AVNT stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.72. The company had a trading volume of 322,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,050. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $47.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.25.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 89.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

About Avient

Avient Corporation operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Color, Additives and Inks; and Specialty Engineered Materials. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, and specialty inks; custom-formulated liquid system, such as polyester, vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane, and silicone; and proprietary inks.