Cerity Partners LLC Has $1.55 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 48.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,868 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,088 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Avient were worth $1,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Avient by 81.6% in 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Avient by 185.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE AVNT traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.44. 911,723 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 463,935. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.79. Avient Co. has a one year low of $34.61 and a one year high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $797.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Avient's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a boost 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 63.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avient Company 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.