Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 3,083 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,948 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Avient were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVNT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,414,000 after acquiring an additional 88,576 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 32.4% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,051,000 after purchasing an additional 180,330 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,527,000 after buying an additional 18,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,819,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,275,000 after buying an additional 224,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Up 1.0 %

AVNT opened at $43.22 on Monday. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.73 and a 12 month high of $43.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.87 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.257 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 124.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

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.