Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.00.

HUN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America cut shares of Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Huntsman Trading Down 7.6%

Shares of HUN traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.90. The stock had a trading volume of 4,597,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,704,425. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.90 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $10.75 and a fifty-two week high of $25.12.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.06) EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.18%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -109.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUN. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 345.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,926,971 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $151,982,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,922 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Huntsman by 320.2% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $84,663,000 after buying an additional 3,578,100 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Huntsman by 188.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $58,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth $37,464,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,762,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,549 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.