Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,842 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Avient by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Avient by 185.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $52.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $33.84 and a twelve month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Avient’s payout ratio is 63.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

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.