Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 108,224 Shares of Avient Corporation $AVNT

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Avient Corporation by 1.0%, selling 108,224 shares, and now owns 10,205,635 shares, which is valued at approximately $379.2 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Avient's stock price, with Wells Fargo raising their target to $42.00 while Morgan Stanley and Robert W. Baird have lowered theirs, indicating varied sentiment in the market.
• Avient has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.0%, with the payout scheduled for October 8th.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,205,635 shares of the company's stock after selling 108,224 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.15% of Avient worth $379,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 159,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,511,000 after acquiring an additional 4,463 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,067 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 187,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Down 0.5%

AVNT traded down $0.1650 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.3150. The stock had a trading volume of 394,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,011. The stock's 50 day moving average is $33.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.23. 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 market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $866.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $852.98 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 3.65%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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 expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is 84.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AVNT shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.60.

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.