Joel R. Rathbun Sells 5,762 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Stock

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT traded down $0.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.81. 19,263 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,153. 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 52 week low of $31.45 and a 52 week high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.04.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AVNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avient

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avient during the first quarter worth $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Avient by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

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.