Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Lowered to “Hold” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $48.92 on Friday. Avient has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $51.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.33.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.40 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. Avient’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avient will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avient during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Avient during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Avient by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.