Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Huntsman Corporation by 77.0% during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 22,426 shares valued at $354,000.
• Huntsman has faced a series of downgrades from several analysts, with the Goldman Sachs Group cutting their price target from $13.50 to $12.00 and issuing a "sell" rating.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equating to a 10.9% dividend yield, despite a negative payout ratio.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 77.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,426 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 75,273 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Huntsman were worth $354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Huntsman by 177.9% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 2,388.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HUN. Bank of America downgraded shares of Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.28.

Huntsman Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of Huntsman stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $9.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,842,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,883,919. The company's 50-day moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.67. Huntsman Corporation has a twelve month low of $9.02 and a twelve month high of $25.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.73 and a beta of 0.70.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.05). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.9%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is -51.28%.

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.