Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $39.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Avient traded as low as $27.86 and last traded at $28.56, with a volume of 145345 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.93.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Avient by 288.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 19,401 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Avient by 3.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Avient by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,431,000 after acquiring an additional 43,249 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avient during the third quarter valued at about $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.18.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.