Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.33.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HUN shares. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN stock opened at $17.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.47. Huntsman has a 52-week low of $15.95 and a 52-week high of $27.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of -25.91 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.59%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -144.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of Huntsman 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUN. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth about $3,827,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Huntsman by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 77,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $395,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $594,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.