Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 49.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 10,582 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in Huntsman during the 2nd quarter worth $2,180,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 383.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,113 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the first quarter worth about $793,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 14.2% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 654,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,893,000 after acquiring an additional 81,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 97.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 413,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,403,000 after purchasing an additional 203,662 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of HUN opened at $19.73 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $19.11 and a 12-month high of $27.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -28.59 and a beta of 1.02.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.