Cullen Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Avient Corporation $AVNT

Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Avient by 7.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,084,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,730,000 after buying an additional 71,354 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,729,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,001,000 after acquiring an additional 376,667 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Avient by 86.6% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 19,412 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its position in Avient by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 36,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 11,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at $429,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $38.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.03. Avient Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.48 and a 52-week high of $44.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.44.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Avient had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 3.49%.The company had revenue of $806.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $823.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AVNT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Avient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Avient from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

About Avient

Avient Corporation (NYSE: AVNT) is a global provider of specialized and sustainable polymer materials, delivering color, additive and engineered solutions to a wide range of industries. The company’s core offerings include masterbatches, colorant systems, compounds and resins designed to enhance performance, aesthetics and environmental sustainability. Avient serves markets such as packaging, automotive, consumer goods, healthcare, electronics, and agriculture, tailoring products to meet stringent regulatory and end-use requirements.

Formed through a corporate rebranding in 2020 following the divestiture of PolyOne’s specialty businesses, Avient traces its heritage to a legacy of polymer innovation spanning decades.