Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,097 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Avient in the fourth quarter worth about $8,344,000. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Avient by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,675,000 after purchasing an additional 797,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVNT. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.60.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $33.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.96 and a 200 day moving average of $42.11. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. As a group, research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.