Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 930,929 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 1.02% of Avient worth $46,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Avient by 88.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Avient by 58.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Avient during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avient Stock Down 1.0 %

Avient stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.14. 683,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,920. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.73 and a 1 year high of $51.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.71.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.