Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in Huntsman Corporation $HUN

Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 123,069 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.25% of Huntsman worth $6,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 253.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 228,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 164,032 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 3.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 129,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,047,000 after buying an additional 3,826 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 1,717.9% in the first 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. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,424,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,494,000 after buying an additional 154,219 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $13,181,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntsman Stock Performance

HUN opened at $11.01 on Wednesday. Huntsman Corporation has a twelve month low of $8.91 and a twelve month high of $25.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of -5.64 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.72.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 2.48% and a negative net margin of 5.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman Corporation 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 Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -51.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Huntsman from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Huntsman from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.06.

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.