224,341 Shares in Huntsman Corporation $HUN Purchased by Aventail Capital Group LP

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP bought 224,341 shares of Huntsman in the third quarter, a stake valued at about $2.02 million and representing roughly 0.13% of the company.
• Several large institutions also materially increased positions—UBS, AQR and Two Sigma added millions of shares—and institutional investors now own about 84.81% of Huntsman stock.
• Analysts have nudged price targets higher (multiple firms raising targets to around $14), but the consensus rating remains "Reduce" with an average target of $12.41; the stock trades near $12 and Huntsman recently missed EPS expectations.

Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 224,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,015,000. Aventail Capital Group LP owned about 0.13% of Huntsman at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 83.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,364,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351,265 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 29.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,062,972 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $106,878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772,563 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Huntsman by 476.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,841,510 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,598 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Huntsman in the second quarter worth $21,953,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Huntsman during the second quarter valued at $21,651,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Huntsman from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $12.41.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN stock opened at $12.00 on Friday. Huntsman Corporation has a 12 month low of $7.30 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.66.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 3.97% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0875 per share. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -21.34%.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.

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