Atria Investments Inc Increases Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,789 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Avient were worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,166,000 after acquiring an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Avient by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Avient by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Avient by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after buying an additional 428,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after buying an additional 463,919 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avient Trading Up 0.2 %

Avient stock opened at $50.75 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $33.84 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.00 and a 200 day moving average of $46.32.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.