Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 28.8% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after purchasing an additional 328,773 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,520,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 318.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Avient by 6.9% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,568,000 after acquiring an additional 26,135 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $48.06 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.73 and a twelve month high of $51.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.45.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its 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. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The business had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer lifted 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

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.