Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Position in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 340,233 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,342 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.37% of Avient worth $12,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 649.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,421 shares of the company's stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Avient by 6.2% during the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 45,093 shares of the company's stock worth $1,676,000 after buying an additional 2,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Avient by 85.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $33.42 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.15 and a 200 day moving average of $38.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.86 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $834.90 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Avient's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Avient's payout ratio 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.

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