Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Receives $54.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVNT. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $50.35 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.33. Avient has a one year low of $27.73 and a one year high of $51.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.40 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The firm’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 business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Avient will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Avient by 13.2% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 158,163 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth about $15,520,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 38,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Avient by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,568,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.