Cwm LLC Raises Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Cwm LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,637 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $82,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Avient by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 345,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,015,000 after purchasing an additional 5,585 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Avient by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,662,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,169,000 after purchasing an additional 82,010 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Avient by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 79,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

Avient stock opened at $48.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.73 and a 1 year high of $51.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is 81.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

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.