ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 681 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

ARK Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 23.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 681 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 1.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,166,000 after purchasing an additional 65,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 149,283 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in 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 raised its stake 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 buying an additional 158,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,028,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $51.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.94. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $31.45 and a 12 month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 4.66%. Avient’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 earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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