Homestead Advisers Corp Has $6.56 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Homestead Advisers Corp trimmed its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,427 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,200 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Avient were worth $6,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 288.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 19,401 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 10,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,243,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,554,000 after acquiring an additional 9,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Avient by 112.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 151,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,646,000 after purchasing an additional 80,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVNT. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.80.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $39.24 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $37.49 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.96 and a 200-day moving average of $45.41.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.