Barclays PLC Grows Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 221.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 173,002 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 119,229 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.19% of Avient worth $8,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 58.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 35.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avient

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock traded down $3.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,086,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,524. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.73 and a 200 day moving average of $47.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

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.