Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06), RTT News reports. Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUN traded up $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $24.33. 3,033,333 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,950,564. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.98 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.97. Huntsman has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $29.90.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is 188.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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 raised their price objective on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.55.

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.