Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

AVNT has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Avient from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Avient from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Avient from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.75.

Avient Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE:AVNT opened at $46.35 on Friday. Avient has a 52 week low of $27.48 and a 52 week high of $49.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.62 and a 200-day moving average of $38.77.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Avient had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 5.27%. The firm had revenue of $891.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $857.49 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Avient will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2750. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $437,002,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth $45,933,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,467,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,038,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Avient in the second quarter worth about $25,872,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Company Profile

Avient Corporation is a global provider of specialty polymer materials, services and solutions. Its offerings include colorants, additives, specialty engineered compounds and other materials designed to enhance the performance, appearance or processing of plastics and other polymers. The company serves customers across industries such as packaging, healthcare, transportation, consumer products and construction.

Avient’s products include color and additive concentrates, specialty thermoplastic compounds, and high-performance materials, including advanced fibers and composites.