Luminus Management LLC Makes New $1.89 Million Investment in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Luminus Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 46,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,892,000. Avient comprises approximately 2.2% of Luminus Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the fourth quarter worth $8,344,000. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,719,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,675,000 after buying an additional 797,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,255,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,316,000 after buying an additional 12,776 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE AVNT opened at $36.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.78. 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 (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Avient’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avient from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Baird R W upgraded Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.25.

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.