Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Makes New Investment in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 43,003 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 174.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,788 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HUN shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Huntsman from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.00.

Huntsman Stock Performance

NYSE:HUN opened at $12.67 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.23 and its 200 day moving average is $16.96. Huntsman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.15 and a fifty-two week high of $25.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. Huntsman’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -109.89%.

Huntsman Company 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.