Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases 257,225 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 1,066.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 281,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 257,225 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Huntsman worth $6,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1,250.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Huntsman in the 3rd quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Huntsman by 64.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HUN. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.75.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN opened at $19.58 on Monday. Huntsman Co. has a 52 week low of $19.11 and a 52 week high of $27.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -28.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. Analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -144.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

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.