Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $42.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.51. Avient has a 52-week low of $37.63 and a 52-week high of $54.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avient will post 2.85 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after acquiring an additional 79,661 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,069,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,259,000 after acquiring an additional 90,535 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,180,000 after acquiring an additional 276,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after acquiring an additional 43,249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% 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.