Point72 Asset Management L.P. Purchases New Shares in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 71,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,123,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 2.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 88.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 11.2% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Avient by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $49.28 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.73 and a 12 month high of $51.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.75 and its 200 day moving average is $44.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research 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.