Walnut Level Capital LLC Has $5.79 Million Holdings in Avient Corporation $AVNT

Walnut Level Capital LLC reduced its stake in Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) by 28.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,201 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,316 shares during the quarter. Avient makes up 3.1% of Walnut Level Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Walnut Level Capital LLC owned 0.20% of Avient worth $5,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avient by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 97,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,618,000 after buying an additional 19,223 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Avient in the first quarter worth about $7,804,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Avient in the first quarter valued at about $37,160,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 137.7% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 63,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 37,004 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Avient during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $356,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avient Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:AVNT opened at $30.94 on Friday. Avient Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.48 and a 1 year high of $48.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $806.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.57 million. Avient had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 3.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Avient has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.770-2.870 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Avient Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Avient’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Avient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Avient in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp started coverage on Avient in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Avient in a report on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.50.

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.