Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Trims Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lowered its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,105 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avient by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Avient by 185.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Avient Trading Down 1.7 %

AVNT stock opened at $41.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $37.63 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $41.94 and its 200 day moving average is $46.12.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

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.