Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Shares Acquired by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,599 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,579 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.09% of Huntsman worth $2,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Huntsman by 174.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 95.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in Huntsman by 853.7% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 8,648 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on HUN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Huntsman from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Huntsman Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of HUN traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,705,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,348,122. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $11.90 and a 1 year high of $25.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50 day moving average is $15.94 and its 200 day moving average is $18.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -11.84 and a beta of 0.85.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. As a group, analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman's payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

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.