Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Trading Up 12.9% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) shot up 12.9% during mid-day trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $8.52 and last traded at $8.38. 1,267,605 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 4,172,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.42.

The basic materials company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.10. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 2.48% and a negative net margin of 5.75%.The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Huntsman Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0875 per share. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -51.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $11.00 price target on Huntsman in a report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in Huntsman by 6.8% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 19,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 117,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntsman by 12.6% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Huntsman by 40.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors increased its position in Huntsman by 5.7% during the second quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 26,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntsman Trading Up 8.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -4.11 and a beta of 0.68.

Huntsman Company Profile

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.