Huntsman Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 26,420 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,257% compared to the average volume of 1,947 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $32,488,000 after purchasing an additional 124,841 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 60,072 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,529,000 after acquiring an additional 349,502 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $569,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 79,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 63,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on HUN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.50.

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Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of HUN stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $16.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,131,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,114,302. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $15.46 and a 12-month high of $26.48. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $17.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.79 and a beta of 0.95.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) 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 return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

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.