Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,166,000 after purchasing an additional 65,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Avient by 3.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,696,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,371,000 after buying an additional 17,976 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $40.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.89. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $35.50 and a 52 week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.06% 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.