Raymond James & Associates Sells 128,985 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 319,921 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 128,985 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.18% of Huntsman worth $8,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in Huntsman in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Huntsman by 611.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman in the first quarter valued at about $89,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Huntsman from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Huntsman in a report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.55.

Huntsman Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of HUN traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $25.62. 910,674 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,032,007. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Huntsman Co. has a 52 week low of $22.14 and a 52 week high of $29.90. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.61.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.07). Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Huntsman's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is 188.68%.

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.