Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,856 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94,093 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Avient worth $10,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVNT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Avient in the first quarter worth $219,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in Avient by 31.1% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 8,040 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Avient by 10.7% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Avient by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,568,000 after buying an additional 26,135 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Avient Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $50.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.27. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.64 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its 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 return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.