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

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,233 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,342 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.37% of Avient worth $12,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Avient by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Avient during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVNT. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. 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 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.80.

Avient Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 810,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,695. 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. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $35.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.55.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Avient had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 3.09%. The company had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Avient's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Avient's payout ratio is 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.