Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 7,946 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Corebridge Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,946 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Avient worth $6,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avient by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,313,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,424,000 after buying an additional 79,661 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Avient by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,977,000 after purchasing an additional 121,349 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,431,000 after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,825,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,581,000 after buying an additional 128,718 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,515,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,253,000 after buying an additional 17,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avient from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Avient to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.80.

Avient Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE:AVNT opened at $36.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $36.68 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS 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, analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 59.02%.

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.