Barclays PLC Grows Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 221.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 173,002 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 119,229 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $8,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 35.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.50.

Avient Stock Down 2.0 %

AVNT opened at $45.94 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. Avient Co. has a one year low of $35.50 and a one year high of $54.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.07.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

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.