Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,488,000 after purchasing an additional 124,841 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Huntsman by 383.0% in 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. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Huntsman by 152.7% in 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 during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new position in Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,317,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntsman

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of Huntsman stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Huntsman Trading Down 1.0 %

Huntsman stock opened at $17.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.91. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $15.95 and a 52-week high of $27.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUN has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.63.

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.