Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $363,000 in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Avient by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Avient by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVNT shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $52.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.63. Avient Co. has a one year low of $33.84 and a one year high of $54.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.38 and its 200 day moving average is $46.47.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.58%.

Insider Activity at Avient

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avient 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.