Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 3,083 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,948 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Avient were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Avient by 14.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,819,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,275,000 after purchasing an additional 224,810 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Avient by 32.4% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,051,000 after purchasing an additional 180,330 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avient by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,334,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,015,000 after purchasing an additional 176,273 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Avient by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 637,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,523,000 after purchasing an additional 108,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avient by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,414,000 after buying an additional 88,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Avient Price Performance

Shares of AVNT stock opened at $43.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.97. Avient Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.73 and a fifty-two week high of $43.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $719.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

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 $0.257 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 124.10%.

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.