Channing Capital Management LLC Has $87.29 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,099,894 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,406 shares during the period. Avient makes up about 2.6% of Channing Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $87,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Avient during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Avient during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Avient Stock Performance

Avient stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.16. 305,432 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,661. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.30. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.73 and a fifty-two week high of $44.93.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

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

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.