Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $5.48 Million Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 303,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,475,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter worth about $62,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Huntsman by 95.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in Huntsman by 853.7% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 8,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $181,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $16.40 on Tuesday. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $15.46 and a 1 year high of $26.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.14 and a 200 day moving average of $19.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.91 and a beta of 0.95.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -90.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Alembic Global Advisors cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

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.