Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $4.66 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 597 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Avient were worth $4,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its position in shares of Avient by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 9,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 5.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Versor Investments LP raised its position in shares of Avient by 180.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 17,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Avient by 185.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avient

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

Avient Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $52.28 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.38 and a 200-day moving average of $46.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $33.84 and a 12 month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.