Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Makes New Investment in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,003 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $775,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,482,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,171,000 after acquiring an additional 130,702 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,529,000 after purchasing an additional 349,502 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,464,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,712,163 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,870,000 after buying an additional 650,951 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE:HUN traded up $0.28 on Friday, hitting $12.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,923,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,006. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 0.82. Huntsman Co. has a 52 week low of $11.15 and a 52 week high of $25.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.06) EPS. Huntsman's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -109.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntsman from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.00.

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.