Bamco Inc. NY Sells 200,000 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Bamco Inc. NY decreased its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200,000 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Avient were worth $75,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVNT. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the first quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Avient by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 318.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 38,683 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avient Trading Down 0.1 %

Avient stock opened at $51.25 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $33.98 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. Avient’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th 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 2.11%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avient has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

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.