Brokerages Set Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) PT at $55.50

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Avient Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $42.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.58. Avient has a 52-week low of $35.58 and a 52-week high of $54.68. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted 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 company had revenue of $815.20 million for 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%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avient will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 836.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,962,000 after acquiring an additional 428,971 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Avient by 120.6% during 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. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Avient by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after acquiring an additional 121,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 221.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,706,000 after purchasing an additional 119,229 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.