Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $32.49 Million Stock Holdings in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Free Report) by 10.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 124,841 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.78% of Huntsman worth $32,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Huntsman by 383.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,113 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 14.2% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 654,064 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,893,000 after buying an additional 81,109 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Huntsman by 152.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 99,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,440,000 after buying an additional 60,072 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 97.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 413,104 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,403,000 after acquiring an additional 203,662 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Huntsman in the third quarter worth about $5,317,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUN traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 478,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,178. Huntsman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $27.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.26 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.81.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

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.