Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $20.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Huntsman traded as low as $15.22 and last traded at $15.44, with a volume of 543260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.82.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Huntsman by 174.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Trading Down 2.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of -14.02 and a beta of 0.95. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.23.

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

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -90.91%.

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.