Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Position Lessened by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,595,165 shares of the company's stock after selling 96,109 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 1.75% of Avient worth $66,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company's stock worth $65,717,000 after buying an additional 215,709 shares during the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter worth $2,568,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avient by 7.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,160 shares of the company's stock worth $43,414,000 after buying an additional 88,576 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Avient by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 32.4% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company's stock worth $26,051,000 after buying an additional 180,330 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Trading Down 1.0 %

AVNT traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.61. 334,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,627. The firm's fifty day moving average is $43.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.41. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $47.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Avient had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Avient's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.257 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.20.

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.