PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,061 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after buying an additional 463,919 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 836.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after purchasing an additional 428,971 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Avient by 120.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,460,000 after purchasing an additional 428,624 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Avient in the second quarter worth $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avient by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, Oppenheimer lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction that occurred 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 at this link. Company insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $51.28 on Thursday. 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 $33.87 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.60 and its 200 day moving average is $46.59.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released 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. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

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.