Avient (NYSE:AVNT) PT Raised to $55.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

AVNT has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT opened at $50.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Avient has a 52-week low of $27.73 and a 52-week high of $51.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.29. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Avient’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Avient will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 93.91%.

Institutional Trading of Avient

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 28.8% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after acquiring an additional 328,773 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Avient by 13.2% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 158,163 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Avient in the second quarter valued at $15,520,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Avient by 318.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in Avient by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,568,000 after acquiring an additional 26,135 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.