Geode Capital Management LLC Has $109.43 Million Position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,174,292 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.38% of Avient worth $109,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVNT. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 81.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Avient by 35.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Avient in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Avient from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avient currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of Avient stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $42.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.03.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

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.