Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.80.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Avient Stock Down 1.9%

AVNT stock opened at $32.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.42. Avient has a 12 month low of $27.86 and a 12 month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $834.90 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.93%.

Institutional Trading of Avient

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Avient by 1.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 969,159 shares of the company's stock worth $36,014,000 after buying an additional 15,737 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Avient by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Avient by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 649.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,421 shares of the company's stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 211,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

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.

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