Brokerages Set Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Target Price at $55.50

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,620,000 after buying an additional 63,138 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 114.6% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 241,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,559,000 after acquiring an additional 129,171 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Avient by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 155,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,799,000 after acquiring an additional 44,026 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 10,088 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 288.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 19,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $39.29 on Wednesday. Avient has a 12 month low of $35.50 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.79.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Avient will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.