Analysts Set Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target at $48.60

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 288.0% in the third 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 period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Avient in the third quarter worth approximately $253,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased 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 worth $8,706,000 after purchasing an additional 119,229 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Down 0.3 %

Avient stock opened at $31.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.