Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Receives $55.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Avient

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 35.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Avient during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $40.86. The stock had a trading volume of 631,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,218. Avient has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Avient will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.58%.

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 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.