Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,610,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the June 30th total of 4,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Huntsman from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Huntsman from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.50.

Huntsman Stock Down 3.9 %

HUN stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.00. 666,451 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,899,034. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.96 and a beta of 1.01. Huntsman has a 52-week low of $21.41 and a 52-week high of $29.36. 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 data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -192.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.