Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 30.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,856 shares of the company's stock after selling 94,093 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Avient worth $10,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,520,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 318.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 38,683 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Avient by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,568,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 114.6% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 241,893 shares of the company's stock worth $10,559,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Avient by 39.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 155,763 shares of the company's stock worth $6,799,000 after purchasing an additional 44,026 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In related 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Performance

AVNT traded up $0.09 on Monday, reaching $50.73. 410,105 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,342. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.84 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's payout ratio is 63.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.