Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 124,841 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,841 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $32,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 64.8% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 188.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntsman

In other 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 value of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Huntsman Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:HUN opened at $19.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -28.96 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.63 and a 200 day moving average of $22.96. Huntsman Co. has a 1-year low of $19.90 and a 1-year high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. Huntsman’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on HUN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.75.

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.