Cibc World Markets Corp Takes $345,000 Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 288.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 19,401 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Avient by 22.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,626,000 after purchasing an additional 111,489 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Avient by 48.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 10,088 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Avient by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,243,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,554,000 after buying an additional 9,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Avient by 112.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 151,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,646,000 after buying an additional 80,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.80.

Avient Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $39.72 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $37.49 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.50.

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

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.