Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Reduces Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. decreased its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 554,269 shares of the company's stock after selling 155,891 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned 0.61% of Avient worth $22,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Avient by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 5,164 shares of the company's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.25.

Avient Stock Down 1.4 %

AVNT traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.80. 483,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 548,170. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $35.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.93%.

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.