New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 62,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVNT. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 288.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 19,401 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after buying an additional 10,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Avient by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,243,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,554,000 after buying an additional 9,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Avient by 112.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 151,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,646,000 after acquiring an additional 80,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.80.

Avient Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $36.90 on Friday. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $36.68 and a 1 year high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.02%.

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.