Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Stake Lessened by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 3.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman in the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.13. The company had a trading volume of 269,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,902,029. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.75 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.51 and a 200 day moving average of $24.33. Huntsman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.41 and a fifty-two week high of $29.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 0.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is presently -192.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.50.

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.