Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Takes $653,000 Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 104,412 shares of the company's stock worth $4,266,000 after purchasing an additional 6,716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Avient by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,069,093 shares of the company's stock worth $166,259,000 after buying an additional 90,535 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Avient by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 767,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,352,000 after acquiring an additional 24,592 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 332,100 shares of the company's stock worth $13,570,000 after buying an additional 42,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Avient by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.60.

Avient Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVNT traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 492,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,864. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.09. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year 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.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 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%. Research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

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.