Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $5.37 Million Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,647 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.12% of Avient worth $5,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Avient by 3.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Avient by 35.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 21.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd 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 period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $46.67. 477,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 459,455. Avient Co. has a one year low of $31.45 and a one year high of $51.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $48.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business 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 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 dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

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.