Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Receives $46.80 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.80.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVNT. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Avient from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

Institutional Trading of Avient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after purchasing an additional 79,661 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Avient by 6.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,348,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after buying an additional 279,064 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Avient by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,513,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,586,000 after acquiring an additional 27,608 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Avient by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,180,000 after acquiring an additional 276,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,118,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,871,000 after acquiring an additional 260,670 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $37.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. Avient has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.14.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $826.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $834.90 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.93%.

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.