Nomura Holdings Inc. Invests $494,000 in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,344,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 276,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,310,000 after purchasing an additional 6,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Avient by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company's stock worth $59,675,000 after purchasing an additional 797,112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AVNT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Avient Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of AVNT stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.85. The stock had a trading volume of 42,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 550,572. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $34.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.90. 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 52-week low of $27.86 and a 52-week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $834.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Avient's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.