Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Lowers Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC decreased its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,092,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153,165 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $47,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,368,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,035,000 after purchasing an additional 34,399 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,128,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,196,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Avient by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,724,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,821,000 after purchasing an additional 381,610 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Avient by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,438,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,937,000 after buying an additional 384,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 2,099,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,293,000 after buying an additional 131,406 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $45.15. 111,317 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 453,394. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.73 and a one year high of $47.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.57%.

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.