Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Purchased by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 140.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,882 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Avient worth $2,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient in the second quarter valued at about $119,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the first quarter worth about $133,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $48.51 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.03. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $27.73 and a 12-month high of $51.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.20, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.