Commerce Bank Trims Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Commerce Bank lessened its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Avient were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Avient in the first quarter valued at about $133,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.54. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $33.84 and a 1 year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut 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 lifted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.