Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,270,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 343,964 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $22,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HUN. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 174.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Huntsman by 95.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its holdings in Huntsman by 853.7% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 8,648 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HUN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.38.

Huntsman Stock Down 7.0 %

HUN stock opened at $12.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.88. Huntsman Co. has a twelve month low of $11.88 and a twelve month high of $25.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of -11.08 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is -90.91%.

Huntsman 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.