Huntsman Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HUN)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 43,280 put options on Huntsman, a 457% increase versus the typical volume of 7,777 puts, signaling heavy bearish positioning.
• Weak recent results and valuation: Huntsman missed quarterly EPS (‑$0.37 vs. est. ‑$0.29) with revenue down 6.7% year‑over‑year, and the stock trades at $13.36 with a market cap of $2.32 billion and a negative P/E.
• Mixed analyst view and high institutional ownership: Analysts' consensus is a "Reduce" with an average price target of $12.41, while institutional investors own about 84.81% of the stock and some firms have recently added to positions.

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 43,280 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 457% compared to the typical volume of 7,777 put options.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.36. 2,731,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,451,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.30. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $7.30 and a 12-month high of $14.38. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.14 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $12.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.82.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.08). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 3.97% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.0875 per share. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Huntsman's payout ratio is presently -21.34%.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,164 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 5,848 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Huntsman by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 81,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 24,521 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $540,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 157,782 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,589,000 after buying an additional 17,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $140,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on HUN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Huntsman from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntsman has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $12.41.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.

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