Man Group plc Sells 19,386 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Man Group plc lowered its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,218 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,386 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.10% of Avient worth $3,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Avient by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter worth $90,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Avient by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in Avient by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 5,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVNT. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Baird R W upgraded Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.80.

Avient Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Avient stock opened at $36.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $35.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.31.

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

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.93%.

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.

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