Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Lowered to “Hold” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $48.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient has a one year low of $27.73 and a one year high of $51.51.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.