Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys 2,165 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 280,039 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $11,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the third quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Avient during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avient Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AVNT traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.98. 272,723 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,111. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $47.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.35 and a 200-day moving average of $39.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.45 million. Avient had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 3.37%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.257 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 89.57%.

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.