Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target Raised to $42.00

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $39.00 to $42.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVNT. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a report 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.25.

Avient Stock Down 1.4 %

Avient stock opened at $36.80 on Wednesday. Avient has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.87. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $826.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $834.90 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 5.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Avient by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,424,000 after buying an additional 79,661 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,069,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,259,000 after acquiring an additional 90,535 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Avient by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,513,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,586,000 after acquiring an additional 27,608 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Avient by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,180,000 after purchasing an additional 276,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Avient by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after purchasing an additional 128,718 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.