Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Price Target Raised to $58.00 at Oppenheimer

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) had its price target boosted by Oppenheimer from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $49.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Avient has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $51.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $850.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.40 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Avient will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avient by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,368,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,035,000 after purchasing an additional 34,399 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Avient by 0.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,128,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,196,000 after purchasing an additional 36,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 149,283 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Avient by 5.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,662,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,169,000 after purchasing an additional 82,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Avient Company Profile

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.