Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 199,201 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 80.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,299 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 199,201 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Huntsman were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Huntsman by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 312,035 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,258,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Huntsman by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,270,343 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,903,000 after acquiring an additional 343,964 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Huntsman from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lowered Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.67.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE HUN traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.17. The company had a trading volume of 9,490,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,473,728. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. Huntsman Co. has a 52 week low of $11.90 and a 52 week high of $25.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.06 and a beta of 0.85.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.06) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

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.