Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.33.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HUN. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntsman

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Huntsman by 5.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 207,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,731,000 after buying an additional 22,749 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 78.5% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 58,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 25,741 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its holdings in Huntsman by 3.3% during the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 24,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Huntsman by 14.2% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 654,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,893,000 after buying an additional 81,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN stock opened at $17.88 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Huntsman has a one year low of $15.95 and a one year high of $27.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.91 and a beta of 0.97.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -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.