TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 15.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 459,349 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,865 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.50% of Avient worth $23,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Avient by 185.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Avient by 12.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,789 shares of the company's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avient by 5.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 23,862 shares of the company's stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in shares of Avient by 14.4% during the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 6,308 shares of the company's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 109.8% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 106,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,366,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.11. The company had a trading volume of 357,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,180. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $31.45 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The business's 50 day moving average price is $48.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Avient's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.