Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.50 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 3.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVNT traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.14. 620,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 459,076. Avient has a 1-year low of $27.73 and a 1-year high of $51.51. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.38 and its 200-day moving average is $45.65.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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