Luminus Management LLC Invests $1.53 Million in Avient Corporation $AVNT

Luminus Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 46,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000. Avient comprises about 1.4% of Luminus Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Luminus Management LLC owned 0.05% of Avient at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Avient by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 328,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,215,000 after purchasing an additional 124,510 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Avient by 100.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,125,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,839,000 after purchasing an additional 564,099 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,335,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,641,000 after acquiring an additional 13,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Avient by 75.9% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AVNT. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Avient in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp started coverage on Avient in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Avient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $30.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.33. Avient Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.48 and a fifty-two week high of $47.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $806.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $823.57 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 3.49%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Avient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.43%.

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.