Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Downgraded to Hold at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Zacks.com reports.

AVNT has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $50.35 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $51.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.29.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient's payout ratio is 93.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Avient by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company's stock worth $204,166,000 after acquiring an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 50,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Avient in the third quarter worth $210,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Avient by 53.8% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Avient by 35.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 9,378 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.