Avient Corporation $AVNT Stock: Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Reduces Holdings

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings cut its Avient stake by 34.8% in the third quarter, selling 791,316 shares; it retained 1.48 million shares, worth about $60.1 million.
• Avient reported quarterly earnings of $0.86 per share, beating estimates of $0.80, while revenue rose 10.5% year over year to $891.2 million.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.275 to $0.2825 per share. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Hold,” with an average price target of $48.75.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 34.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,482,872 shares of the company's stock after selling 791,316 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 1.62% of Avient worth $60,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter worth $437,002,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the second quarter valued at about $45,933,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the second quarter valued at about $37,467,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth about $37,038,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth about $25,872,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Avient from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Avient from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Avient from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.75.

Avient Stock Down 1.3%

AVNT stock opened at $45.74 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23. Avient Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.48 and a 12 month high of $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Avient had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The business had revenue of $891.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $857.49 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a $0.2825 dividend. This is an increase from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.2750. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.41%.

Avient Company Profile

Avient Corporation is a global provider of specialty polymer materials, services and solutions. Its offerings include colorants, additives, specialty engineered compounds and other materials designed to enhance the performance, appearance or processing of plastics and other polymers. The company serves customers across industries such as packaging, healthcare, transportation, consumer products and construction. Avient's products include color and additive concentrates, specialty thermoplastic compounds, and high-performance materials, including advanced fibers and composites.

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