Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Stock Holdings Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 124,841 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $32,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HUN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 383.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,113 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 654,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,893,000 after purchasing an additional 81,109 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Huntsman by 152.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 99,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 60,072 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Huntsman by 97.2% during 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 buying an additional 203,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter worth about $5,317,000. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Huntsman

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.14.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN opened at $18.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $27.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.28 and a beta of 0.97.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.