Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,041 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,423 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 120.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,460,000 after acquiring an additional 428,624 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Avient by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,581,000 after acquiring an additional 128,718 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Avient by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after purchasing an additional 121,349 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Avient by 221.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,706,000 after purchasing an additional 119,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

Avient Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $42.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.61 and its 200 day moving average is $46.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.51. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $37.33 and a 52-week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Sell-side analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

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.