Franklin Resources Inc. Has $21.74 Million Stock Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,205,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,872 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $21,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 10,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Huntsman by 174.5% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Huntsman stock opened at $13.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -12.16 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Huntsman Co. has a 12-month low of $12.46 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.06.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.48%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.63.

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.