Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 428,624 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 120.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 784,178 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 428,624 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.86% of Avient worth $39,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avient in the third quarter worth $217,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 58.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,166,000 after buying an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Avient by 2.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 50,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the third quarter valued at $210,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.01. The company had a trading volume of 363,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,966. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.73 and a 12 month high of $51.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is an increase from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.91%.

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.