Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.00.

HUN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Huntsman in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Huntsman from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Huntsman from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Huntsman from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Huntsman Stock Performance

HUN opened at $14.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -7.67 and a beta of 0.62. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $7.30 and a 1 year high of $15.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.83% and a negative return on equity of 4.60%. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Huntsman will post -0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.0875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -18.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,880,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $178,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,590 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Huntsman by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,062,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772,563 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Huntsman by 83.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,364,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351,265 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Huntsman by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,969,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,697,000 after buying an additional 336,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Huntsman by 16.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,950,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003,187 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.