Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Sells 29,400 Shares of Avient Corporation $AVNT

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 34.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,400 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Avient by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,348,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 279,064 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 9.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,118,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,871,000 after purchasing an additional 260,670 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,252,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,797,000 after purchasing an additional 19,813 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 5.7% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,560,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,407,000 after purchasing an additional 84,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient during the first quarter valued at $50,471,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

AVNT opened at $29.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.81 and its 200 day moving average is $34.09. Avient Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.48 and a 12-month high of $53.61.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $806.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $823.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Avient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Avient’s payout ratio is 89.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Avient in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Avient from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.