Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Upgraded at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT) to a hold rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

AVNT has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.80.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $40.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. Avient has a 12 month low of $37.63 and a 12 month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Equities research analysts expect that Avient will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the third quarter valued at about $60,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.