Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Stock Price

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Avient Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $49.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Avient has a 1-year low of $35.33 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Avient’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avient 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 given a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avient

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 15.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter worth about $304,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Avient by 221.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,706,000 after purchasing an additional 119,229 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.