Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 2,634 Shares of Avient Corporation $AVNT

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,634 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 75.9% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Avient by 39.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AVNT opened at $30.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.86. Avient Corporation has a one year low of $27.48 and a one year high of $51.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.48.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $806.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.57 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 10.57%. Avient’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Avient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.