Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,237,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,548,000. Norges Bank owned 1.35% of Avient as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Avient in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Avient by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVNT. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.80.

Avient Trading Down 6.3 %

AVNT stock opened at $30.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88. Avient Co. has a one year low of $28.96 and a one year high of $54.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.92.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. As a group, analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.02%.

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.