Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 67,235 Shares of Avient Corporation $AVNT

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Avient Corporation by 37.9%, selling 67,235 shares and now owning 110,300 shares valued at $4,099,000.
• Several hedge funds have adjusted their holdings in Avient, with Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increasing its stake by 6.9%, now owning over 4.3 million shares.
• Analyst ratings for Avient vary, with an average price target of $45.60 and one analyst rating it a Strong Buy, while others maintain Buy and Hold ratings.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 37.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,235 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Avient worth $4,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,874 shares of the company's stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 115,907 shares of the company's stock worth $4,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12,156 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,197,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,912,000 after buying an additional 143,066 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 109,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,493,000 after buying an additional 35,163 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Avient by 200.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,321,791 shares of the company's stock worth $54,012,000 after purchasing an additional 882,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on 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 cut their target price on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Avient Trading Up 2.0%

AVNT traded up $0.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.31. 339,621 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 556,661. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50-day moving average is $34.54 and its 200 day moving average is $35.86. Avient Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.86 and a 12 month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Avient has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.700-0.700 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 84.38%.

Avient Company 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.