Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,415 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $2,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Avient by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Avient in the first quarter valued at $222,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,662,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,169,000 after buying an additional 82,010 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Avient by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 79,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $46.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.73 and a twelve month high of $51.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Avient’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 81.10%.

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.