Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.89, but opened at $14.90. Huntsman shares last traded at $13.4260, with a volume of 2,075,737 shares traded.

Huntsman News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Huntsman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The merger could create a much larger chemicals company with more than $400 million in expected synergies and roughly $12.5 billion in revenue, which may improve long-term scale and cost efficiency. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and industry coverage say the deal is strategically sound, but the market is still weighing the combined company’s leadership structure, closing timeline, and broader soft chemicals backdrop. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple reports highlight that Huntsman shareholders will now trade based on Olin’s share price until the merger closes, making HUN more sensitive to deal-related pricing than standalone fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several shareholder law firms have launched investigations into whether Huntsman’s board obtained a fair price for investors, adding legal overhang and uncertainty around the transaction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Huntsman’s merger terms were also described as implying a discount versus recent trading levels, which can pressure the stock when investors compare the deal value to where HUN had been trading. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUN has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho raised shares of Huntsman from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Huntsman from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.58.

Huntsman Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.63 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.55.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.03. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.83% and a negative return on equity of 4.60%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.0875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -18.23%.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUN. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter worth $27,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the third quarter valued at $58,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Huntsman by 121.7% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 3,706 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Huntsman by 1,005.9% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 5,925 shares during the period. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.