Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target Increased to $53.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $49.00 to $53.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 14.97% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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 price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.80.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,909. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53. Avient has a fifty-two week low of $27.73 and a fifty-two week high of $47.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Avient had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 2.41%. The business had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Avient’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Avient will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVNT. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Avient by 5.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,741,000 after buying an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Avient by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,302,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,008,000 after acquiring an additional 29,516 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Avient by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Avient by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 186,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,597,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Avient by 3.2% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.