CoreFirst Bank & Trust Takes $301,000 Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 16,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 242.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 44,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 31,837 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Huntsman by 14.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 152.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 99,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 60,072 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 47.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Huntsman Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of HUN opened at $16.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $15.46 and a 52-week high of $26.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.91 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.14 and its 200-day moving average is $19.47.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. Equities analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

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.