Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

AVNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $43.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.14 and a 200-day moving average of $46.32. Avient has a 52-week low of $37.63 and a 52-week high of $54.68. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.51.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Equities research analysts expect that Avient will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Avient by 185.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.