Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 6,383 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,383 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.31% of Avient worth $12,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in Avient by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 17,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 7,443 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Avient by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 385,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,006,000 after buying an additional 9,025 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Avient by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 319,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,283,000 after buying an additional 19,375 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,368,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,035,000 after buying an additional 34,399 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Avient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $390,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avient Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $49.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $51.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.72.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 89.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.