Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 893 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 140,311 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Avient worth $5,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Avient by 44.9% in 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 period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient during the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Avient by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. 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. Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.60.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $31.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. Avient Co. has a 12 month low of $27.86 and a 12 month high of $54.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.05. 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 Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Equities research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.