American Century Companies Inc. Sells 86,639 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,072,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,639 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $43,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Avient by 44.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the third quarter worth $60,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $38.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Avient Co. has a one year low of $37.49 and a one year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.80.

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.