Commerce Bank Buys 2,565 Shares of PolyOne Co. (NYSE:POL)

Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of PolyOne Co. (NYSE:POL) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in PolyOne were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PolyOne by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,990,124 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $227,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,973 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PolyOne by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,092,826 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,995,000 after purchasing an additional 33,269 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of PolyOne by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,048,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,863,000 after purchasing an additional 444,408 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PolyOne by 118.4% during the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,831,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,744,000 after purchasing an additional 992,773 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PolyOne by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,456,364 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $53,580,000 after purchasing an additional 37,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.33% of the company’s stock.

In related news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.52 per share, with a total value of $121,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 109,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,929.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP J Scott Horn bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.81 per share, with a total value of $74,050.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 15,000 shares of company stock worth $213,490. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on POL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of PolyOne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. ValuEngine upgraded shares of PolyOne from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of PolyOne from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of PolyOne in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, SunTrust Banks decreased their target price on shares of PolyOne from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

NYSE:POL opened at $24.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 3.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.82. PolyOne Co. has a 12 month low of $8.69 and a 12 month high of $37.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.75.

PolyOne (NYSE:POL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $711.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.26 million. PolyOne had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PolyOne Co. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.203 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. PolyOne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.93%.

PolyOne Profile

PolyOne Corporation provides specialized polymer materials, services, and solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in four segments: Color, Additives and Inks; Specialty Engineered Materials; Performance Products and Solutions; and Distribution. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers specialized color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics; dispersions for thermosets; and specialty inks, plastisols, and vinyl slush molding solutions.

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