American Century Companies Inc. Sells 86,639 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,072,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,639 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.17% of Avient worth $43,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Avient by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 37,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 10,022 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Avient by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 174.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 78,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,193,000 after acquiring an additional 49,643 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Avient in the 4th quarter valued at about $345,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avient by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Avient Price Performance

Avient stock opened at $38.33 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Avient Co. has a one year low of $37.49 and a one year high of $54.68.

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

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.