Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 3.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Avient were worth $171,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter worth approximately $133,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $48.10 on Friday. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $49.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.02, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.13.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.