Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires 30,859 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,124 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,859 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Avient worth $18,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Avient by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company's stock worth $74,581,000 after acquiring an additional 128,718 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Avient by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company's stock worth $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Avient by 221.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company's stock worth $8,706,000 after acquiring an additional 119,229 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Avient by 22.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company's stock worth $30,626,000 after acquiring an additional 111,489 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Avient by 112.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 151,953 shares of the company's stock worth $7,646,000 after acquiring an additional 80,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

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Avient Stock Performance

AVNT traded down $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.87. 1,134,534 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 604,474. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.63 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

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.