Comerica Bank Cuts Stock Position in Avient Corporation $AVNT

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has decreased its stake in Avient Corporation by 14.0%, now holding approximately 0.15% of the company, worth about $4.96 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Avient, with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. growing its stake by 75.9% during the first quarter.
• Avient announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 2.9% and will be paid on October 8th.

Comerica Bank lowered its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,524 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,709 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.15% of Avient worth $4,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 75.9% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 737 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Avient by 2.5% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Avient by 1.8% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Avient by 20.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA lifted its position in Avient by 5.2% in the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 9,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE AVNT traded down $0.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $36.57. 35,571 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 673,018. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average of $35.90. Avient Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.86 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.40.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $866.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.98 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AVNT. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.60.

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.