Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,031,607 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,574 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.23% of Avient worth $68,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Avient by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after buying an additional 5,546 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Avient by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Avient by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Avient by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. 93.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AVNT. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Avient from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avient from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Avient from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Avient from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Avient Stock Down 2.0 %

Avient stock opened at $37.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.82. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.65 and a twelve month high of $52.37.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.08. Avient had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 11.50%. The company had revenue of $845.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Avient’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.12%.

Avient Company Profile

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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.