Man Group plc Reduces Holdings in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Man Group plc reduced its position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 393,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 109,741 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.23% of Huntsman worth $7,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth about $395,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Huntsman by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 77,015 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,827,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,606 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 13,157 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HUN shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.00.

Huntsman Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of HUN traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.40. 2,970,174 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,616,256. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.42. Huntsman Co. has a 12-month low of $11.15 and a 12-month high of $25.42.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.06) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.78%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -109.89%.

Huntsman 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.