Franklin Resources Inc. Has $99.64 Million Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 43.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,420,742 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 735,855 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $99,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,802,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,502,000 after purchasing an additional 583,179 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Avient by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,478,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,739,000 after buying an additional 142,503 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Avient by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,938,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,060,000 after buying an additional 147,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avient by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,031,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,589,000 after buying an additional 27,574 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 1.5% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,700,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,973,000 after acquiring an additional 25,932 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avient Stock Performance

Shares of AVNT opened at $39.06 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.65 and a 52 week high of $44.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.55.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. Avient had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 17.55%. The business had revenue of $824.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $842.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Avient’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Avient in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

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 specialized color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics; dispersions for thermosets; and specialty inks.