Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP has reduced its holdings in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 13.8%, owning approximately 1.61% of the company after selling 236,434 shares in the first quarter.
• Avient's quarterly earnings topped estimates with $0.80 earnings per share, outperforming the forecast of $0.78 and showing a 1.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share has been declared, representing an annualized yield of 3.2%, with stockholders of record set to receive it on October 8th.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,475,318 shares of the company's stock after selling 236,434 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 1.61% of Avient worth $54,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Avient by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,069,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,259,000 after buying an additional 90,535 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,513,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,586,000 after purchasing an additional 27,608 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avient by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,522,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,576,000 after purchasing an additional 62,022 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avient by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,332,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,437,000 after purchasing an additional 165,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avient by 200.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,321,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,012,000 after purchasing an additional 882,234 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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 price target on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE AVNT traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.84. The company had a trading volume of 630,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 831,276. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.03. Avient Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.86 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average of $36.70.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.38%.

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.