Huntsman Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 4,039 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 71% compared to the typical volume of 2,365 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HUN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.90.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $21.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.10 and a beta of 1.01. Huntsman has a 12 month low of $21.41 and a 12 month high of $29.90. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.90 and its 200 day moving average is $24.48.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,770,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,188,000 after acquiring an additional 55,828 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $134,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,792,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,727,000 after acquiring an additional 904,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 4,368 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.