Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Avient Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $51.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Avient has a twelve month low of $27.73 and a twelve month high of $51.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.24.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The business had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avient will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 93.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Avient by 13.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after acquiring an additional 158,163 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Avient during the second quarter worth $15,520,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Avient by 318.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 38,683 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 404,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,568,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.