New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 20,970 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 909,959 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,970 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 1.00% of Avient worth $37,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 58.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the third quarter worth $60,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Avient by 185.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 21.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $43.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $37.63 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.31.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its 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 return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Avient 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.