Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 324,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,245 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Avient worth $13,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $265,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avient by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 93,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,816,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,376,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,279,000 after buying an additional 617,771 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $498,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Avient by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 65,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after buying an additional 10,339 shares during the period. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.98, for a total transaction of $262,842.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,919.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Avient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Avient in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT opened at $34.72 on Friday. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $27.73 and a 12-month high of $44.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.34, a PEG ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 1.51.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.257 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.23%.

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 specialized color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics; dispersions for thermosets; and specialty inks.