Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 74,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Huntsman by 95.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in Huntsman by 853.7% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 8,648 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at $181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HUN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $17.31 on Friday. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $15.46 and a 52-week high of $26.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.11 and a 200 day moving average of $19.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -15.73 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.78%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.91%.

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.