Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 10,574 call options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof295% compared to the average volume of 2,680 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUN has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 177.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1,717.9% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 3,075 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at $53,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Huntsman by 197.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE HUN opened at $10.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Huntsman has a 52 week low of $8.91 and a 52 week high of $25.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of -5.57 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.93.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.05). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 2.48% and a negative net margin of 5.75%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -51.28%.

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.