Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Price Target Raised to $18.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.63.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $17.63 on Thursday. Huntsman has a one year low of $15.67 and a one year high of $27.01. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.02 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Equities analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.67%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is -90.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 320.2% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,695,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,100 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,269,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth about $37,464,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 70.2% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,762,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,712,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,870,000 after acquiring an additional 650,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.