Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,092,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153,165 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC owned 1.20% of Avient worth $47,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Avient by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,784,000 after purchasing an additional 75,715 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 28.8% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Avient by 13.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after buying an additional 158,163 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,717,000 after acquiring an additional 215,709 shares during the period. Finally, Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter worth about $2,568,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.20.

Avient Stock Performance

Avient stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.15. 111,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,394. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.73 and a 12 month high of $47.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.03 and a 200 day moving average of $41.96.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.45 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.57%.

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.