Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,700,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the November 30th total of 4,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
HUN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.14.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on HUN
Insider Buying and Selling at Huntsman
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman in the third quarter worth $62,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1,250.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.
Huntsman Price Performance
Huntsman stock opened at $18.03 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.76 and its 200 day moving average is $21.56. Huntsman has a one year low of $17.41 and a one year high of $27.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83.
Huntsman (NYSE:HUN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.
Huntsman Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is -144.93%.
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.
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