Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.50.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $51.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.24. Avient has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $51.51. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avient in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Avient in the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 21.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.