Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,367 shares during the quarter. Avient accounts for about 1.1% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.21% of Avient worth $7,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.6% in the first quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 3.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 0.7% in the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 48,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Avient by 2.5% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 19,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 6,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.98, for a total transaction of $262,842.14. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at $207,919.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Avient in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. One equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Avient Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVNT traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 60,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,346. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 5.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.34. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.65 and a 52 week high of $44.74.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Avient’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

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.