Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.55.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

Huntsman Stock Up 0.0 %

HUN opened at $23.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 44.76 and a beta of 1.12. Huntsman has a 52 week low of $22.14 and a 52 week high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Huntsman by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,792,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,727,000 after purchasing an additional 904,696 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Huntsman by 115.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 105,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 56,598 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 73,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 4,406 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,889,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,268,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.