Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Position Cut by Homestead Advisers Corp

Homestead Advisers Corp decreased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,427 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,200 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp owned about 0.18% of Avient worth $6,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,675,000 after buying an additional 797,112 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Avient during the 4th quarter valued at $8,344,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Avient by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 790,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,283,000 after acquiring an additional 181,476 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Avient by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after purchasing an additional 121,349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.80.

Avient Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $39.24 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $37.49 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

Avient Company Profile

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.