Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Key Points

• Huntsman Corporation experienced an unprecedented surge in put options trading, with 51,823 contracts purchased, marking a 1,689% increase compared to typical volumes.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their holdings in Huntsman, with Mackenzie Financial Corp raising its position by 150.2% and Versant Capital Management by 2,388.4%.
• Analysts are bearish on Huntsman, as evidenced by multiple price target reductions, with the consensus rating being a "Hold" and an average target price of $12.05.

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 51,823 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,689% compared to the typical volume of 2,897 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Huntsman by 150.2% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,912 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 18,555 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Huntsman by 2,388.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Huntsman by 2,412.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,360,000 after acquiring an additional 20,407 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Huntsman by 157.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 2,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Huntsman by 266.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 80,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 58,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUN has been the subject of several research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Huntsman in a report on Friday, September 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Huntsman from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.05.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $8.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,409,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,011,368. Huntsman has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $24.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $10.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.59 and a beta of 0.64.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (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 business 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 business posted $0.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.2%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -51.28%.

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.

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