Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Avient by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,719,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 321,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in Avient by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in Avient by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 5,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Avient by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Avient Trading Down 1.2 %

AVNT opened at $43.45 on Monday. Avient Co. has a one year low of $37.63 and a one year high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.51.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.