Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 25,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Avient by 139.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,152 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at $136,000. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at $165,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $43.25. 924,361 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,521. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.35 and a 200-day moving average of $37.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 52.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.73 and a twelve month high of $43.97.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $711.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.257 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.10%.

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.