Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.14.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HUN shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntsman news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Huntsman by 54.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,415,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,536,000 after buying an additional 1,547,344 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Huntsman by 383.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,113 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman during the third quarter worth $27,045,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Huntsman by 52.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,358,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,701,000 after purchasing an additional 811,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 295.1% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 722,990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,496,000 after purchasing an additional 539,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $18.13 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.28 and a beta of 0.97. Huntsman has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.52%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

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.