Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.80.

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVNT. 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. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Baird R W raised Avient to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Avient Stock Performance

Avient stock opened at $33.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.71. Avient has a 52 week low of $27.86 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Avient's payout ratio is 100.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVNT. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 649.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 130,733.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Avient in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,344,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Avient by 85.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

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.

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