Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 22.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,909,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 864,709 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $144,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 15.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avient during the third quarter valued at about $304,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Avient during the third quarter valued at about $336,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avient by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,431,000 after acquiring an additional 43,249 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Avient by 221.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 173,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,706,000 after acquiring an additional 119,229 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVNT. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Avient Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $47.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.04. Avient Co. has a one year low of $35.50 and a one year high of $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. 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 (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Avient’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

About Avient

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.