State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,076 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVNT. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Avient by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,977,000 after purchasing an additional 121,349 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avient by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after buying an additional 43,249 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after buying an additional 128,718 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Avient by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,620,000 after buying an additional 63,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,253,000 after buying an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AVNT. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.51. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $37.63 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.