Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,881 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 152.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 10,172 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 140.2% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 56,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 32,882 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 1.2% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 59,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the second quarter worth about $251,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Avient in the second quarter valued at about $3,123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avient Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $48.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 81.10%.

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.