Intech Investment Management LLC Has $1.43 Million Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 54.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,493 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,994 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake 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 buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

AVNT stock opened at $53.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $33.84 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.54.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic of several research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 available through this link. 2.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.