Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stake Trimmed by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 19.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,491 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Avient were worth $3,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient by 3.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 52,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Avient by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Avient Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.24. The stock had a trading volume of 337,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,869. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.90. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $47.87.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.57%.

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.