Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.14.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HUN. Citigroup cut their price target on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insider Activity at Huntsman

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 1,250.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Huntsman in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

HUN traded down $0.42 during trading on Thursday, reaching $17.88. 3,097,925 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,932. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $20.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The company's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntsman will post 0.09 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, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.59%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is presently -144.93%.

About Huntsman

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.