Bank of America Corp DE Sells 1,972,127 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its holdings in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 60.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,281,276 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,972,127 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.74% of Huntsman worth $23,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Huntsman by 174.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUN traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,970,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,616,256. The company's 50-day moving average price is $13.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Huntsman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.15 and a fifty-two week high of $25.42.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Huntsman's payout ratio is presently -109.89%.

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.