Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Shares Down 4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) fell 4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $12.38 and last traded at $12.39. 422,405 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 6,623,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HUN. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Huntsman from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Huntsman in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.41.

Huntsman Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.40 and its 200-day moving average is $10.59.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 3.97% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.0875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -21.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 1,731,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,544,000 after acquiring an additional 575,800 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the third quarter worth $799,000. Regents Gate Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 117.7% in the third quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP now owns 463,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 223.5% in the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 517,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 357,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Huntsman in the third quarter valued at $832,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.