Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $23.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Huntsman traded as low as $19.90 and last traded at $20.73, with a volume of 152473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.74.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on HUN. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HUN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 73,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 20.1% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 26,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 4,424 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at $257,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 90,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 16,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth about $78,000. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.08. 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 market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.06 and a beta of 1.02.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued 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. Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.26% and a negative net margin of 1.44%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

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.