Geode Capital Management LLC Has $109.43 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $109,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Avient during the third quarter worth approximately $60,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $42.37 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $49.61 and its 200-day moving average is $47.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

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.