Cerity Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 48.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,868 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,088 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 162.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after purchasing an additional 463,919 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 836.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after buying an additional 428,971 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Avient by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after buying an additional 428,624 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE AVNT opened at $51.34 on Wednesday. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $34.61 and a 52 week high of $54.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.75.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted 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. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Avient

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

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.