Huntsman Corporation $HUN Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Huntsman Corporation by 345.7% during the first quarter, owning nearly 10 million shares valued at approximately $151.98 million by the end of the reporting period.
• Several hedge funds also boosted their stakes in Huntsman, with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC notably raising its holdings by 898.5% in the same quarter.
• Huntsman recently announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend, reflecting an annualized yield of 9.2%, despite the company reporting a negative net margin and reducing earnings projections.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 345.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,926,971 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,699,922 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 5.71% of Huntsman worth $151,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,074,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,370,000 after acquiring an additional 239,193 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 898.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 167,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 150,461 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Huntsman by 12.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 132,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 14,812 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Huntsman by 51.0% in the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 39,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Huntsman by 72.0% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 63,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 26,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HUN. Citigroup reduced their price target on Huntsman from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.06.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $10.82 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $10.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 0.65. 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 1 year low of $8.91 and a 1 year high of $25.12.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.48%. The business's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntsman Corporation 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 Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. Huntsman's payout ratio is presently -51.28%.

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.

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