Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 209,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,121 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Avient worth $8,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Avient by 4.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,620,000 after purchasing an additional 63,138 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Avient by 288.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 19,401 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Avient by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 10,088 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,243,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,554,000 after acquiring an additional 9,893 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Avient Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $42.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.27. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $37.63 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.51.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

Avient 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.