LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Sells 519 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,971 shares of the company’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Avient by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 214,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after buying an additional 41,219 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Avient by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 140,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,733,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at $8,344,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.60.

Avient Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $31.65 on Wednesday. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.86 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.79.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

Avient Company 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.