Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 204,554 Shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,209,305 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 204,554 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.32% of Avient worth $44,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Avient by 2,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock opened at $33.19 on Friday. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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