Jane Street Group LLC Buys 35,163 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,965 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,163 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Avient worth $4,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Avient by 221.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,706,000 after acquiring an additional 119,229 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Avient by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 108,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,414,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised Avient to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.80.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT stock traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $37.76. The company had a trading volume of 122,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,829. The business's 50-day moving average is $35.28 and its 200 day moving average is $41.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.