Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,784,000 after purchasing an additional 75,715 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 28.8% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 13.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 158,163 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Avient during the second quarter worth about $15,520,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 318.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $48.67 on Tuesday. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.73 and a one year high of $49.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.15 and its 200-day moving average is $44.29. 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 $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. Avient’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Avient 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.