Oak Thistle LLC Invests $594,000 in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 32,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HUN. Matrix Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 853.7% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 8,648 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Huntsman by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $569,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,488,000 after purchasing an additional 124,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 12,875 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Stock Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $17.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.66 and its 200-day moving average is $21.10. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.20 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.47. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $15.95 and a 52-week high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -144.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HUN. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of Huntsman stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.10% 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.