GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 51,939 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 5,751.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,842 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 51,939 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.06% of Avient worth $1,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at $90,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at $223,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $34.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.86 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.60. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $834.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The business's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Avient's payout ratio is presently 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.

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