Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Shares Acquired by Seven Eight Capital LP

Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 69.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 9,708 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,258,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,618,000 after buying an additional 84,462 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,761,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 665,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,327,000 after buying an additional 130,614 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 234,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,901,000 after buying an additional 32,535 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1,052.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 209,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,449,000 after buying an additional 191,272 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Stock Performance

NYSE:HUN traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.99. 1,571,784 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,912,790. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $21.41 and a 1 year high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -192.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced 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, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Citigroup reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.50.

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.