Versor Investments LP Raises Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 180.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,251 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,100 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Avient were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Avient by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Avient in the second quarter valued at $59,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $51.08 on Wednesday. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $31.45 and a 1 year high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

Avient 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.