Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stake Reduced by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 174,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,687 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Avient were worth $8,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd 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 bought a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Avient by 185.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $50.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.84 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.32.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.13%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.