Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 25.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 993 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,784,000 after purchasing an additional 75,715 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after acquiring an additional 328,773 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 158,163 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $15,520,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 318.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 38,683 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Avient Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Avient stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $48.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 149,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,962. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $49.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 42.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.44 and a 200 day moving average of $43.17.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during 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 business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.57%.

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.