Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,166,000 after buying an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Avient by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after acquiring an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Avient by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,696,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,371,000 after acquiring an additional 17,976 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after purchasing an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 13.2% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 158,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $52.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.04. Avient has a 12 month low of $31.45 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.