Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Position in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in Avient Corporation by 5.5%, selling 9,467 shares, resulting in ownership of around 163,955 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Avient, with Morgan Stanley lowering their target price to $41, while Wells Fargo increased it to $42, indicating a balance of caution and optimism among market experts.
• Avient recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with an expected yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 100.93% as it continues to navigate its financial performance and stock valuation.

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,467 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.18% of Avient worth $6,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Avient by 85.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Avient by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 2,450.0% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,479 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.60.

Avient Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AVNT traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $33.35. 138,444 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 684,800. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.84.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $866.50 million during 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%. Avient's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.