Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,387 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,422 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Avient in the 3rd quarter worth $136,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Avient in the 4th quarter worth $191,000. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Avient in the 3rd quarter worth $165,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Avient in the 4th quarter worth $234,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Avient Stock Down 1.0 %

AVNT stock opened at $42.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.82. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.73 and a fifty-two week high of $43.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.257 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 124.10%.

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.