Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $20.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Huntsman traded as low as $18.24 and last traded at $18.30, with a volume of 2805161 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.56.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on HUN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntsman news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Huntsman in the third quarter worth about $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 1,250.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the third quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman in the second quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the third quarter valued at about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Down 2.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of -25.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.85 and its 200 day moving average is $21.98.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -144.93%.

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.