Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Huntsman Corporation's shares gapped down prior to trading, opening at $10.80 compared to a previous close of $11.15, and last traded at $11.00 with significant trading volume.
• An array of analysts have downgraded their price targets for Huntsman, with Goldman Sachs lowering their target from $12.00 to $10.00 and issuing a "sell" rating.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss with ($0.20) EPS, falling short of the consensus estimate of ($0.15), alongside a 7.4% year-over-year revenue decline.

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $11.15, but opened at $10.80. Huntsman shares last traded at $11.00, with a volume of 473,904 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Huntsman from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Huntsman from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.05.

Huntsman Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.27.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is presently -51.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 345.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,926,971 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $151,982,000 after buying an additional 7,699,922 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,549,631 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $68,247,000 after buying an additional 485,587 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,105,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $96,407,000 after buying an additional 419,009 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,310,768 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $55,338,000 after buying an additional 451,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,027,000 after buying an additional 10,154 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently 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.