B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 70,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,535,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 2.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $49.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $33.84 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.39.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

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.