Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Short Interest Update

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,320,000 shares, an increase of 17.2% from the March 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Huntsman Stock Down 0.4 %

HUN stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.93. The company had a trading volume of 793,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.64. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.07). Huntsman had a return on equity of 1.92% and a net margin of 1.65%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. Huntsman’s revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HUN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 27,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 6,907 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 42.3% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $155,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,672,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $475,358,000 after purchasing an additional 47,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 14,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.