Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Shares Purchased by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Huntsman worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Huntsman by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Huntsman by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 75,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Huntsman by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Huntsman by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUN traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $23.44. 2,843,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,543,055. Huntsman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $29.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.29 and its 200-day moving average is $24.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of -45.08 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 0.67%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -192.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HUN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.20.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products.