GW&K Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,255,978 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,789 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned about 1.37% of Avient worth $46,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avient during the fourth quarter worth about $50,548,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 200.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,321,791 shares of the company's stock worth $54,012,000 after buying an additional 882,234 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Avient by 250.5% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 532,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,762,000 after acquiring an additional 380,657 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company's stock worth $130,180,000 after acquiring an additional 276,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Avient by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,209,305 shares of the company's stock worth $44,938,000 after purchasing an additional 204,554 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Avient Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Avient stock opened at $32.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.40. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Avient had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Avient's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 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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