Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.73.

HUN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.3 %

HUN opened at $25.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.09 and its 200 day moving average is $24.70. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $29.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. This is a positive change from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 5.0% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 16.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 523,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 2.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,463,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $157,717,000 after buying an additional 152,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 6.4% during the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 73,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 4,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.