Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 266.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 58,250 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Huntsman were worth $1,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,482,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,171,000 after purchasing an additional 130,702 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,009,093 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,194,000 after purchasing an additional 125,595 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $102,529,000 after purchasing an additional 349,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 155,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 35,949 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HUN shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.00.

Huntsman Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $11.36 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $10.75 and a 52 week high of $25.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.33 and a beta of 0.72.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The firm 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm 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 8.80%. Huntsman's dividend 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.

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