California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 10,015 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,015 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of Avient worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after purchasing an additional 79,661 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after buying an additional 121,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 43,249 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after acquiring an additional 128,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Avient by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,253,000 after acquiring an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE AVNT opened at $29.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.74 and its 200-day moving average is $44.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Avient Co. has a one year low of $28.35 and a one year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Equities research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AVNT. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.80.

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.