Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HUN shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Huntsman from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Huntsman from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Huntsman from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kelleher Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 2,013.1% during the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 29,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 27,640 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Huntsman by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 36,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,923 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $144,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 15,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,377,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,776,000 after buying an additional 1,291,407 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:HUN opened at $12.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -6.38 and a beta of 0.68. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $7.30 and a fifty-two week high of $18.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.98.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.42%.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.