Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Cim Investment Management Inc.

Cim Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 19.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Avient by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,784,000 after purchasing an additional 75,715 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Avient by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 158,163 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,520,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Avient by 318.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $50.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.73 and a 1 year high of $51.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.83, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The company had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 89.57%.

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.