EMC Capital Management Boosts Holdings in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Huntsman by 21.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 39,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 2.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 2nd quarter valued at $464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN opened at $17.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Huntsman Co. has a 12 month low of $15.95 and a 12 month high of $27.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.78.

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

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on HUN shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntsman

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.