Fiera Capital Corp Has $32.37 Million Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Fiera Capital Corp cut its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 643,311 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,402 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.70% of Avient worth $32,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 2.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.50.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE AVNT traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $51.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 536,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,887. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.94. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $31.45 and a 52 week high of $54.68. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Avient's payout ratio is 63.58%.

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.