American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 164,032 Shares of Huntsman Corporation $HUN

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Huntsman Corporation by 253.8% in the first quarter, now owning 228,664 shares valued at approximately $3.61 million.
• A number of other institutional investors, including Nomura Holdings Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., also significantly boosted their holdings in Huntsman, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Despite the increased interest from institutions, analysts have mixed opinions, with target price cuts from multiple firms, dropping Huntsman's consensus price target to $12.06 and maintaining an average rating of "Hold".

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 253.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,664 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 164,032 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.13% of Huntsman worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,135,000 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Huntsman by 70.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,139,549 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at $13,181,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Huntsman by 4,078.9% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 500,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,015,000 after buying an additional 488,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Huntsman by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,105,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $96,407,000 after buying an additional 419,009 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN stock traded up $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $10.85. 1,500,798 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,912,326. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Huntsman Corporation has a 12 month low of $8.91 and a 12 month high of $25.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.65 and a 200 day moving average of $12.71.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.05). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 2.48% and a negative net margin of 5.75%.The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Huntsman's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -51.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on HUN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho cut their target price on Huntsman from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.06.

Huntsman Company 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.