Analysts Set Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target at $55.50

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 81.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 58.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Avient by 35.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE AVNT opened at $39.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.79. Avient has a 52 week low of $35.50 and a 52 week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Avient’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Avient will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

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.