Avient Corporation $AVNT Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 492,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,906 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.54% of Avient worth $15,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,734 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Avient by 129.7% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 7,295 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Avient by 2.4% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 65,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 68,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 12,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Avient by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,884 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock opened at $31.33 on Thursday. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.48 and a one year high of $51.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Avient had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The business had revenue of $806.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Avient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.43%.

Avient 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 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.