Avient Corporation $AVNT Shares Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Avient Corporation by 61.0%, acquiring an additional 124,510 shares, bringing their total holdings to 328,706 shares worth approximately $12.22 million.
• Avient recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.80 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, along with a revenue of $866.50 million, reflecting a growth of 1.9% compared to the previous year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 to be paid on October 8th, representing a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 61.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 328,706 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 124,510 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.36% of Avient worth $12,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Avient by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,007 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Avient by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,571 shares of the company's stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Avient by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 9,162 shares of the company's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.60.

Avient Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AVNT traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.58. The stock had a trading volume of 19,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,934. 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 cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.90. Avient Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.86 and a fifty-two week 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $866.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.98 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. Avient's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avient Corporation 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, October 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 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.