ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Avient Corporation $AVNT

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 213,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,973 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $6,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,218,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,223,000 after purchasing an additional 77,246 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Avient by 1.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,753,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,637,000 after purchasing an additional 62,926 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avient by 19.1% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 2,095,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,057,000 after purchasing an additional 335,670 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Avient by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,800,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,260,000 after purchasing an additional 70,978 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 8.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after purchasing an additional 121,272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVNT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avient in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of Avient in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Avient Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AVNT opened at $34.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.31. Avient Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.48 and a 12-month high of $44.85.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $846.35 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Avient has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.890-0.890 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.930-3.170 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Corporation will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 18th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. Avient’s payout ratio is 63.95%.

Avient Company Profile

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.