Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 368 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,653 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Avient were worth $4,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Avient by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Avient by 139.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Avient during the third quarter worth about $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Avient during the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Avient during the third quarter worth about $165,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $43.25 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.81. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 52.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $43.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.257 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Avient’s payout ratio is 124.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

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.