Pathstone Holdings LLC Raises Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,675 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $2,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avient by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,818,000 after buying an additional 149,283 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Avient by 0.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,028,000 after buying an additional 6,881 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 428,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 162.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after acquiring an additional 463,919 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

AVNT opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.54. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $33.84 and a 52-week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 63.58%.

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.