Channing Capital Management LLC Sells 197,075 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Channing Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,721,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197,075 shares during the period. Avient makes up approximately 1.9% of Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $70,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Avient in the third quarter worth approximately $60,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Avient by 185.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Avient Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $40.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.95 and a 200 day moving average of $46.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.63 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

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 $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.