Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $16.95 and last traded at $16.95, with a volume of 1088895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.75.

Huntsman Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.91 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.38.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -144.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,891,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,389,000 after purchasing an additional 243,821 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Huntsman by 54.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,415,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,536,000 after buying an additional 1,547,344 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,301,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,905,000 after buying an additional 70,382 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,055,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,937,000 after acquiring an additional 31,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,538,000 after acquiring an additional 40,330 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.