ING Groep NV Acquires Shares of 219,700 Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 219,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,317,000. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.13% of Huntsman as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 753.2% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,867,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,652,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,800 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntsman by 383.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,113 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Huntsman by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,358,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,701,000 after buying an additional 811,099 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Huntsman by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,213,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,634,000 after buying an additional 376,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Huntsman by 203.2% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 462,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,522,000 after acquiring an additional 309,700 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Huntsman

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of Huntsman stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of HUN stock opened at $19.55 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.85. Huntsman Co. has a twelve month low of $19.14 and a twelve month high of $27.01. 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 cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.33 and a beta of 1.02.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -144.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

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.