9,084 Shares in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has invested approximately $338,000 in Avient Corporation by acquiring 9,084 shares as indicated in its recent 13F filing.
• Avient recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.80, exceeding analysts' expectations and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue increase of 1.9%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 12th.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 969,159 shares of the company's stock worth $36,014,000 after acquiring an additional 15,737 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Avient by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Avient by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Avient by 649.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,421 shares of the company's stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of AVNT traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.84. The company had a trading volume of 630,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 831,276. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $34.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.66. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.86 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $866.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $852.98 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. Avient's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Avient's payout ratio is presently 84.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.60.

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.