Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Sets New 52-Week High at $44.14

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.14 and last traded at $44.07, with a volume of 228878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Avient Stock Up 2.2 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.87 million. Avient had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.257 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 124.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNT. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Avient by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the 3rd quarter worth about $136,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Avient by 50,811.1% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Avient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the first quarter worth $222,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.