Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.40 million. Avient had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT traded down $1.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.43. The stock had a trading volume of 733,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,773. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.91 and its 200 day moving average is $42.26. Avient has a 12-month low of $27.73 and a 12-month high of $47.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th.

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.