Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 9,994 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,493 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,994 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Avient by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,166,000 after purchasing an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avient by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Avient by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,696,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Avient by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Avient by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after purchasing an additional 428,624 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avient Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.54. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $33.84 and a 12-month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

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.