B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires Shares of 70,260 Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 70,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,535,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG owned 0.08% of Avient as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Avient by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 58.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Avient during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Avient by 185.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock opened at $49.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.39. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $33.84 and a 1 year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

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.