Trexquant Investment LP Sells 183,362 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 46.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 212,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 183,362 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.12% of Huntsman worth $3,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HUN. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Huntsman by 10.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,488,000 after purchasing an additional 124,841 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,529,000 after buying an additional 349,502 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at about $569,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,338,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Huntsman by 390.7% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 79,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 63,085 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntsman Price Performance

Huntsman stock opened at $13.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.16 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.06. Huntsman Co. has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $25.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.48%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HUN. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.63.

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.