Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $10.73 and last traded at $10.80, with a volume of 1439474 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Huntsman from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Huntsman from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Huntsman Trading Down 0.8%

The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.83 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.56.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.25%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -109.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 345.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,926,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,982,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,922 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 320.2% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578,100 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in Huntsman by 188.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $37,464,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Huntsman by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,762,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.