Huntsman Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 32,696 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,773% compared to the typical volume of 1,746 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on HUN shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Huntsman from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.88.

Huntsman Stock Up 3.1 %

Huntsman stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.39. 470,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.02 and a beta of 1.02. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $19.90 and a 1 year high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.26% and a negative net margin of 1.44%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Huntsman will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -200.00%.

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.