Huntsman Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 14,272 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 120% compared to the typical volume of 6,475 call options.

Huntsman Stock Up 13.0%

HUN opened at $12.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.83 and a beta of 0.70. Huntsman has a 12 month low of $7.30 and a 12 month 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $10.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.98.

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

Huntsman Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -18.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in Huntsman by 453.9% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 107,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 88,215 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $572,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $799,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 657.9% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,102,000 after purchasing an additional 852,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Huntsman by 47.4% in the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 558,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 179,476 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HUN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors set a $11.00 target price on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

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.