Joel R. Rathbun Sells 5,762 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stock

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Avient Trading Up 0.9 %

AVNT opened at $51.53 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $54.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

Institutional Trading of Avient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Avient in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Avient by 58.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Avient in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.