Versor Investments LP Grows Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 180.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,251 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Avient were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake 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 worth $204,166,000 after buying an additional 65,452 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 3.9% during the 2nd 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company's stock worth $63,813,000 after purchasing an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Avient by 13.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 158,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Performance

Avient stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.53. 469,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,087. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.35 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.