Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $52.00 and last traded at $52.00, with a volume of 947 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avient Stock Up 5.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.28 and its 200-day moving average is $45.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.58%.

Institutional Trading of Avient

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Avient by 1.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,166,000 after acquiring an additional 65,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Avient by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,818,000 after acquiring an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,010,000 after purchasing an additional 158,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.