Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 4,078.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 488,035 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Huntsman worth $9,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Huntsman by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,488,000 after acquiring an additional 124,841 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Huntsman by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in Huntsman by 853.7% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 8,648 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at $594,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at $395,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on 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 cut their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Huntsman from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.00.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE HUN traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.67. 2,923,677 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,582,006. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.78. 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 $11.15 and a 52-week high of $25.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 0.82.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. 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.