Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Buy" from the four research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of Avient stock traded down $0.93 on Friday, hitting $50.35. The stock had a trading volume of 553,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,986. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Avient has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $51.51. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.29.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $841.40 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.65 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 93.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avient during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.