Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 26,420 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,257% compared to the average daily volume of 1,947 put options.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of Huntsman stock opened at $17.70 on Tuesday. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $15.46 and a 1 year high of $26.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $17.13 and its 200 day moving average is $19.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.09 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -90.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 320.2% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,663,000 after buying an additional 3,578,100 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth about $37,464,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,762,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Huntsman by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,712,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,870,000 after purchasing an additional 650,951 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.