Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Grows Stock Position in Avient Corporation $AVNT

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. has increased its stake in Avient Corporation by 9.7%, now holding 508,247 shares valued at approximately $18.89 million.
• Avient reported quarterly earnings that exceeded estimates, posting $0.80 EPS against a consensus expectation of $0.78 EPS, with revenues of $866.5 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27, which represents a 2.9% yield and will be paid on October 8th to shareholders of record.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 508,247 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 45,123 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.56% of Avient worth $18,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 737 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 2,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $37.21. 465,651 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 680,360. Avient Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year high of $54.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $866.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $852.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Avient has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.700-0.700 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AVNT. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.60.

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.