Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $25.90 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 623,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,684 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Avient were worth $25,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Avient by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,580,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,717,000 after acquiring an additional 215,709 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avient by 7.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 88,576 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Avient by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avient by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 737,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,051,000 after purchasing an additional 180,330 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avient by 0.9% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,527,000 after buying an additional 18,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Avient Price Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $44.16 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $41.94 and a 200-day moving average of $38.27. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.73 and a 52 week high of $44.93. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.20, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.53.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $719.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $711.87 million. Avient had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avient Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.257 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio is 124.10%.

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.