The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $45.93 Million Position in Avient Corporation $AVNT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,242,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,933,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter worth about $437,002,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,457,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Avient by 697.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,442,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,050,000 after buying an additional 1,261,146 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Avient by 440.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,337,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,744 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,038,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVNT. UBS Group set a $44.00 target price on Avient in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Avient from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avient from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $43.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Avient from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of Avient stock opened at $44.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.77. Avient Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.48 and a 52 week high of $46.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $917.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $898.53 million. Avient had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Avient has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avient Corporation will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.46%.

Avient Company Profile

Avient Corporation (NYSE: AVNT) is a global provider of specialized and sustainable polymer materials, delivering color, additive and engineered solutions to a wide range of industries. The company’s core offerings include masterbatches, colorant systems, compounds and resins designed to enhance performance, aesthetics and environmental sustainability. Avient serves markets such as packaging, automotive, consumer goods, healthcare, electronics, and agriculture, tailoring products to meet stringent regulatory and end-use requirements.

Formed through a corporate rebranding in 2020 following the divestiture of PolyOne’s specialty businesses, Avient traces its heritage to a legacy of polymer innovation spanning decades.