Polymer Capital Management US LLC Takes Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 69,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,258,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HUN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 320.2% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,100 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth $37,464,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Huntsman by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,376,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,825,000 after buying an additional 357,136 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,529,000 after buying an additional 349,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,270,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,903,000 after buying an additional 343,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HUN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.63.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $13.38 on Monday. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $25.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.16 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $16.76 and its 200 day moving average is $19.06. 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 announced 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). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.91%.

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.