Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 623,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,684 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.68% of Avient worth $25,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Avient during the third quarter worth approximately $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter worth approximately $191,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Avient during the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter valued at $234,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $44.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.73 and a twelve month high of $44.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Avient had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 2.41%. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Avient’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.257 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 124.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVNT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Avient 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.