Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Short Interest Up 28.3% in November

Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the October 31st total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 479,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avient

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Avient by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avient by 88.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Avient by 58.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avient Trading Up 0.6 %

Avient stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $51.57. The stock had a trading volume of 414,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 462,437. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.48. Avient has a 52-week low of $34.61 and a 52-week high of $54.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.79 and a 200 day moving average of $46.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. This is a positive change from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

About Avient

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.