Huntsman Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 32,696 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,773% compared to the average daily volume of 1,746 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on HUN. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Huntsman from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.88.

Huntsman Stock Performance

NYSE HUN traded up $0.65 on Wednesday, reaching $21.39. The stock had a trading volume of 470,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,882,410. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.06. Huntsman has a 1-year low of $19.90 and a 1-year high of $27.01. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.02 and a beta of 1.02.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.44% and a positive return on equity of 0.26%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 76,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 15,379 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Huntsman by 30.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 202,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,273,000 after purchasing an additional 47,449 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 1st quarter worth about $1,428,000. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 248,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after buying an additional 14,095 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Huntsman

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.