Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.00.

AVNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Avient Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $43.96 on Thursday. Avient has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $54.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.14 and a 200 day moving average of $46.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 59.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 21.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.