Avient (NYSE:AVNT) PT Raised to $55.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Avient Stock Down 1.8 %

AVNT stock opened at $50.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. Avient has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $51.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.40 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Avient will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 93.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Avient by 88.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Avient during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Avient by 21.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.