Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The company traded as low as $11.60 and last traded at $11.62, with a volume of 5244175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.12.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down from $17.00) on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.61.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 177.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 2,388.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,917 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Stock Down 4.1 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.56 and a beta of 0.85. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.61%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.91%.

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.