SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 649.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,421 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,431 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Avient were worth $833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 45,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 130,733.3% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.64. 764,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,250. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.74. 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 Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Avient had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $834.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Avient's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Avient's payout ratio is currently 100.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.80.

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.