Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,345 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,463 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Avient worth $6,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after acquiring an additional 79,661 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,180,000 after purchasing an additional 276,357 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 1.2% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,253,000 after buying an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,675,000 after buying an additional 797,112 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.60.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE AVNT opened at $31.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.37. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. On average, research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.