Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Position Decreased by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 681 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,680,000 after acquiring an additional 463,919 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 836.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,962,000 after buying an additional 428,971 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Avient by 120.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after buying an additional 428,624 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 28.8% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the second quarter worth approximately $11,135,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $51.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Avient Co. has a one year low of $31.45 and a one year high of $54.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.94.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is 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.