Brokerages Set Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Target Price at $55.50

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Avient Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $39.29 on Wednesday. Avient has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avient will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Avient by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Avient by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.