Xponance Inc. Acquires 656 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,942 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Avient by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Avient in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Avient by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Avient in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.80.

Avient Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $39.52 on Wednesday. Avient Co. has a one year low of $37.49 and a one year high of $54.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Avient’s payout ratio is 59.02%.

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.