Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $16.95 and last traded at $16.95, with a volume of 1088895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HUN shares. Citigroup cut their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntsman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.14.

Huntsman Price Performance

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 market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.64 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average of $21.48.

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

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued 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 5.88%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is presently -144.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntsman news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,891,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,389,000 after acquiring an additional 243,821 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 54.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,415,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,344 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,301,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,905,000 after buying an additional 70,382 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,055,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,937,000 after purchasing an additional 31,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,538,000 after acquiring an additional 40,330 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.