Natixis Advisors LLC Has $2.28 Million Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,775 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after acquiring an additional 43,249 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after acquiring an additional 128,718 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Avient by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,620,000 after acquiring an additional 63,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,253,000 after acquiring an additional 17,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.80.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $38.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.49 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 59.02%.

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.