WCM Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 408,544 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,394 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned about 0.45% of Avient worth $17,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Avient by 7.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,160 shares of the company's stock worth $43,414,000 after acquiring an additional 88,576 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avient by 32.4% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,051,000 after purchasing an additional 180,330 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avient by 0.9% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,527,000 after purchasing an additional 18,411 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Avient by 14.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,819,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,275,000 after purchasing an additional 224,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Avient by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Down 2.0 %

AVNT traded down $0.86 on Friday, reaching $41.28. 394,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 391,821. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.39. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $43.97.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company's revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.257 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday.

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.