Comerica Bank Has $8.20 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,832 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,933 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Avient were worth $8,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Avient by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,101,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,784,000 after buying an additional 75,715 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 28.8% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,470,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,813,000 after buying an additional 328,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Avient by 13.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,359,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,010,000 after buying an additional 158,163 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,717,000 after buying an additional 215,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avient during the fourth quarter worth $2,568,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT traded down $1.68 on Friday, reaching $42.76. 101,352 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 454,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.47. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $47.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.05.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.45 million. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.57%.

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.