Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Acquired by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC boosted its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 288.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,138 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,401 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 worth $32,680,000 after purchasing an additional 463,919 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 836.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after acquiring an additional 428,971 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after acquiring an additional 428,624 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Avient by 3.9% during the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $46.88 on Tuesday. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.06.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

About Avient

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.