Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Purchases 30,859 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 463,124 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,859 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $18,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after buying an additional 121,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Avient by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,522,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,620,000 after purchasing an additional 63,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,253,000 after purchasing an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Avient Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $40.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.51. 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 1-year low of $37.63 and a 1-year high of $54.68.

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

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

Avient 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.