Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Bought by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 40.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,761 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Avient by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,784,000 after purchasing an additional 75,715 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Avient by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after purchasing an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Avient by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 158,163 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Avient by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,717,000 after purchasing an additional 215,709 shares during the period. Finally, Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Avient during the 4th quarter valued at $2,568,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Down 0.8 %

Avient stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.08. 289,764 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,770. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $47.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.91.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.45 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 89.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVNT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

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.