Premier Fund Managers Ltd Has $659,000 Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,417 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Avient were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,680,000 after buying an additional 463,919 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 836.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,962,000 after purchasing an additional 428,971 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 120.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after purchasing an additional 428,624 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the second quarter valued at about $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Avient by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after buying an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $49.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.36. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $33.84 and a 1-year high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. Avient’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVNT. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avient presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.