Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Reaches New 52-Week High at $44.14

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.14 and last traded at $44.07, with a volume of 228878 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AVNT. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Avient Stock Up 0.5 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.19, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.257 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 124.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,717,000 after buying an additional 215,709 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,414,000 after acquiring an additional 88,576 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,051,000 after acquiring an additional 180,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,527,000 after acquiring an additional 18,411 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.