Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Holdings Boosted by BlackRock Inc.

BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,874,799 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 417,069 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 13.06% of Avient worth $359,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Avient by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,802,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,502,000 after buying an additional 583,179 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Avient by 1,151.1% during the second quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 393,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,780,000 after purchasing an additional 362,245 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Avient by 235.8% in the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 415,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,582,000 after purchasing an additional 291,600 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Avient by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,933,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,190,000 after purchasing an additional 222,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,486,000 after purchasing an additional 210,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.81% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

Avient stock opened at $39.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.70. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.65 and a one year high of $54.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $790.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.04 million. Avient had a net margin of 16.70% and a return on equity of 14.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 12.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AVNT. Oppenheimer upgraded Avient from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Avient from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Avient from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Avient from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

About Avient

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Avient Corp. engages in the business of thermoplastic compounds. It specializes in polymer materials, services, and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, plastic sheet and packaging solutions and polymer distribution. The firm is also involved in the development and manufacturing of performance enhancing additives, liquid colorants, fluoropolymers, and silicone colorants.