Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.00.

A number of analysts have commented on HUN shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Huntsman from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America cut Huntsman from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 345.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,926,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,982,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,922 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 320.2% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,100 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Huntsman by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at $37,464,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Huntsman by 70.2% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,762,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $11.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -12.23 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.65. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $10.13 and a 12-month high of $25.12.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.65% and a negative net margin of 2.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -109.89%.

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.