Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Will Pay A Larger Dividend Than Last Year At $0.275

The board of Avient Corporation (NYSE:AVNT) has announced that the dividend on 7th of January will be increased to $0.275, which will be 1.9% higher than last year's payment of $0.27 which covered the same period. This makes the dividend yield 3.5%, which is above the industry average.

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Avient's Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Prior to this announcement, Avient's dividend made up quite a large proportion of earnings but only 66% of free cash flows. In general, cash flows are more important than earnings, so we are comfortable that the dividend will be sustainable going forward, especially with so much cash left over for reinvestment.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 96.0% over the next year. Under the assumption that the dividend will continue along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 47% which would be quite comfortable going to take the dividend forward.

See our latest analysis for Avient

Avient Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.40 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $1.08. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 10% per annum over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Earnings have grown at around 4.6% a year for the past five years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. Avient's earnings per share has barely grown, which is not ideal - perhaps this is why the company pays out the majority of its earnings to shareholders. This isn't the end of the world, but for investors looking for strong dividend growth they may want to look elsewhere.

In Summary

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Avient's payments are rock solid. The company has been bring in plenty of cash to cover the dividend, but we don't necessarily think that makes it a great dividend stock. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Avient (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.