nVerses Capital LLC Grows Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,368,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,035,000 after acquiring an additional 34,399 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Avient by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Avient by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,662,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,169,000 after purchasing an additional 82,010 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Avient by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after buying an additional 158,163 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $50.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $51.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.