Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $39.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Avient traded as low as $27.86 and last traded at $28.56, with a volume of 145345 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.93.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.60.

Institutional Trading of Avient

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Avient in the fourth quarter valued at $50,548,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Avient by 200.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,321,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,012,000 after buying an additional 882,234 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Avient by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,460,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,675,000 after buying an additional 797,112 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Avient by 250.5% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 532,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,762,000 after acquiring an additional 380,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Avient by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,180,000 after acquiring an additional 276,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.