Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 10,687 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,852 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,687 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.19% of Avient worth $8,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Avient by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company's stock worth $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,028,000 after buying an additional 6,881 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Avient by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,460,000 after buying an additional 428,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company's stock worth $32,680,000 after buying an additional 463,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Avient Trading Down 1.8 %

Avient stock traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.82. 161,134 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,257. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $49.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.32. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $33.84 and a twelve month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's payout ratio is 63.58%.

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.