Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. trimmed its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 554,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155,891 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $22,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after purchasing an additional 79,661 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,069,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,259,000 after acquiring an additional 90,535 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Avient by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,180,000 after purchasing an additional 276,357 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Avient by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avient by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,675,000 after purchasing an additional 797,112 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $36.20 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $834.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.20.

Avient Company Profile

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.