Joel R. Rathbun Sells 5,762 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stock

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Avient Stock Performance

AVNT traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, hitting $51.81. 19,263 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,153. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $31.45 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,166,000 after purchasing an additional 65,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,696,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 28.8% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after purchasing an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Avient by 13.2% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after buying an additional 158,163 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Company 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.