PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 798 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,061 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 798 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient during the first quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Avient by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 38,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $51.28 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $33.87 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.48.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Avient’s payout ratio is 63.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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