Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 31,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 185.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four 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, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

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Avient Stock Performance

AVNT stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.87. 1,134,534 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 604,474. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $37.63 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. 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 simple moving average of $41.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.12.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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, equities research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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%.

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.