Traders Purchase Large Volume of Huntsman Put Options (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 9,476 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 818% compared to the typical volume of 1,032 put options.

Huntsman Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $26.73 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 1.16. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $23.52 and a 12-month high of $33.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Huntsman had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.2375 per share. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is 98.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HUN shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Huntsman from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. 58.com reiterated an “initiates” rating on shares of Huntsman in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.42.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,441,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,766,000 after purchasing an additional 215,413 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,606,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,578,000 after purchasing an additional 105,691 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 61.7% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,976,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,156 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 35.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,311,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $170,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,657 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 0.5% in the second quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,719,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $154,540,000 after acquiring an additional 28,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.44% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates through 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.