Panagora Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,038,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,396 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $26,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.73.

Huntsman Stock Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $25.19 on Friday. Huntsman Co. has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $29.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.79.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -192.31%.

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.