Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.25.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HUN shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Huntsman Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $15.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 0.95. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $15.22 and a 12-month high of $26.40.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -90.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,482,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,171,000 after purchasing an additional 130,702 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Huntsman by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,529,000 after buying an additional 349,502 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 320.2% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,301,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,905,000 after acquiring an additional 70,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 188.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.