Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Shares Up 6.8% – Here’s What Happened

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN)’s stock price traded up 6.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.51 and last traded at $12.5440. 2,775,234 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 6,489,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Huntsman from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Huntsman in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.41.

Huntsman Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.21 and a 200-day moving average of $10.47.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 3.97% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.0875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -21.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in Huntsman by 453.9% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 107,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 88,215 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 1,731,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,544,000 after acquiring an additional 575,800 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter valued at about $799,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 657.9% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,102,000 after acquiring an additional 852,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 117.7% during the third quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP now owns 463,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

About Huntsman

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.