Natixis Advisors LLC Has $2.54 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Avient Corporation by 22.8%, owning a total of 68,465 shares worth approximately $2,544,000.
• Analyst ratings for Avient show a mixed outlook, with price targets ranging from $37 to $45.60 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Avient recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 3.3%.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,465 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,690 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Avient worth $2,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Avient by 85.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 57.5% during the first 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 last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Avient by 2,450.0% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Avient during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 45.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three investment 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.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.60.

Avient Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.73. 347,169 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,167. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.62. Avient Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. Avient had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $866.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Avient's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

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

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.