New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $37.18 Million Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 909,959 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,970 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 1.00% of Avient worth $37,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVNT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company's stock worth $213,977,000 after buying an additional 121,349 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company's stock worth $109,431,000 after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,581,000 after acquiring an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Avient by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company's stock worth $76,620,000 after buying an additional 63,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company's stock worth $76,253,000 after acquiring an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

Avient Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.45. 1,288,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,910. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $37.63 and a 52-week high of $54.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.31.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. Equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient's payout ratio is currently 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.