Avient Raises Q4 Adjusted Earnings Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Avient Corp. (AVNT), a provider of specialized and sustainable material solutions, on Monday raised its outlook for fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share, citing an increase in sales.

For the fourth quarter, Avient raised its outlook for adjusted earnings to $0.48 per share from the prior outlook of $0.40 per share, and compared to the prior-year adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.41 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Pro forma for the acquisition of Clariant Masterbatch, the company noted that sales for October and November increased 5.4 percent over the same months in the prior year. Avient expects to end the year with about $600 million in cash, which it intends to use for future bolt-on acquisitions and share repurchases, as pro forma net debt to EBITDA leverage is now expected to be approximately 2.8x by year-end.

In December, Avient's board of directors approved an increase of 5 million shares available for repurchases, bringing the company's total authorization to about 6 million shares.