Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Stock Rating Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Avient (NYSE:AVNT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AVNT. Barclays started coverage on Avient in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Avient from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Avient from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Avient from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.38.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $38.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.54. Avient has a 52 week low of $27.48 and a 52 week high of $46.64. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $917.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $898.53 million. Avient had a return on equity of 11.64% and a net margin of 5.10%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Avient has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.800 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avient will post 3.20 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a $0.2825 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2750. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 59.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avient in the second quarter valued at approximately $437,002,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,933,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth approximately $37,467,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth approximately $37,038,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth approximately $25,872,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

About Avient

Avient Corporation (NYSE: AVNT) is a global materials company that develops and manufactures specialized polymer products and solutions. Its portfolio includes engineered materials, specialty formulations, colorants, additives, inks, and other technologies designed to improve the performance, appearance, sustainability, and processing of plastics and other materials.

The company serves customers across a range of industries, including packaging, transportation, healthcare, consumer products, electronics, building and construction, and energy.