Chartwell Investment Partners LLC Has $7.55 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Chartwell Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 150,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,455 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $7,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avient by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 35.4% in 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 21.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

Avient Stock Up 1.1 %

AVNT stock opened at $52.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.04. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.45 and a fifty-two week high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. Avient’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.