Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Feb 25th, 2023

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,004,033 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.20% of Avient worth $60,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avient by 565.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Avient by 123.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Avient in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AVNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Avient from $40.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Avient from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Avient from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Oppenheimer raised Avient from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Avient from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.00.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE AVNT opened at $42.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $27.65 and a twelve month high of $54.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.02.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $790.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.04 million. Avient had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 16.70%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.86%.

Avient Company Profile

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Avient Corp. engages in the business of thermoplastic compounds. It specializes in polymer materials, services, and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, plastic sheet and packaging solutions and polymer distribution. The firm is also involved in the development and manufacturing of performance enhancing additives, liquid colorants, fluoropolymers, and silicone colorants.