Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Position Increased by Chesapeake Capital Corp IL

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 27.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,411 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Avient were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 88.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 58.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Avient during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Avient by 185.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $50.64 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.27. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $33.64 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

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.