Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires New Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after purchasing an additional 463,919 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avient by 836.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after buying an additional 428,971 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 120.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,460,000 after buying an additional 428,624 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient in the second quarter worth about $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Avient by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,818,000 after acquiring an additional 149,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Avient Price Performance

AVNT opened at $52.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.47. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $33.84 and a 12-month high of $54.68.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 63.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

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.