Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 522,264 shares of the company's stock after selling 115,408 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Avient worth $21,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Avient by 5.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Avient by 2.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,302,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,008,000 after purchasing an additional 29,516 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Avient by 9.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Avient by 4.0% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 186,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,597,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Avient by 3.2% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,512 shares of the company's stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.20.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $45.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 573,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,170. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 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 12 month low of $27.73 and a 12 month high of $47.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.57.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Avient's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.257 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.10%.

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.