Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 237.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,946 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Huntsman were worth $665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Huntsman by 174.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,788 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Huntsman by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 853.7% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 8,648 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $15.83 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.32. Huntsman Co. has a 52 week low of $15.46 and a 52 week high of $26.40. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HUN shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Alembic Global Advisors cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Huntsman 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.