New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 107,853 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 975,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,853 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 1.07% of Avient worth $40,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 139.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Avient during the third quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the third quarter valued at approximately $165,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $43.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $43.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.35 and its 200-day moving average is $37.81.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Avient had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $711.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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.