Norges Bank Takes $50.55 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,237,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,548,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.35% of Avient as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company's stock worth $30,626,000 after purchasing an additional 111,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 288.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company's stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 19,401 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Avient by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 151,953 shares of the company's stock worth $7,646,000 after buying an additional 80,414 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,431,000 after acquiring an additional 43,249 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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 raised Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.60.

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Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock traded up $3.97 on Wednesday, hitting $32.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,543,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,382. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.87 and a 1 year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.28%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

Avient 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.