Chartwell Investment Partners LLC Decreases Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Chartwell Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,036 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,455 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Avient worth $7,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Avient by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 3.1% during the first 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 lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Avient by 21.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Avient by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Down 2.0 %

AVNT stock traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.08. The stock had a trading volume of 435,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,056. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $31.45 and a 1-year 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.50 and a 200 day moving average of $46.04.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.