Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Short Interest Up 29.3% in September

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,030,000 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the September 15th total of 3,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Huntsman Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Huntsman stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 962,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,925. Huntsman has a 1-year low of $19.91 and a 1-year high of $27.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.94 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.32.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.26% and a negative net margin of 1.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. Huntsman's dividend payout ratio is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,151,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $79,198,000 after buying an additional 1,359,437 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 55,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,387,000 after buying an additional 30,537 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased its holdings in Huntsman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 152,094 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,959,000 after buying an additional 8,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Huntsman by 44.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Huntsman from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Huntsman from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.89.

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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