Short Interest in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Expands By 28.3%

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, an increase of 28.3% from the October 31st total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 479,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avient

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Avient by 81.6% in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Avient by 58.7% during the third 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Avient by 44.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Avient in the second quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.88. 6,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 460,669. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.70. Avient has a twelve month low of $34.61 and a twelve 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avient will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

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.