Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,705 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,725 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Avient were worth $14,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Avient by 81.6% during the third 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. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Avient by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 35.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Avient during the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

Avient Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Avient stock opened at $47.52 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.04. Avient Co. has a 52-week low of $35.50 and a 52-week high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

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.