Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Shares Acquired by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 162,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,173 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $4,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter valued at $134,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Huntsman by 1,942.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Huntsman by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Huntsman stock opened at $24.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Huntsman Co. has a 12 month low of $22.14 and a 12 month high of $29.90. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.17 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.12 and its 200-day moving average is $24.68.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is -192.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.55.

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.