Huntsman Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 43,113 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 421% compared to the average daily volume of 8,275 put options.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 453.9% during the second quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 107,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 88,215 shares during the period. Impala Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntsman by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 1,731,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,544,000 after purchasing an additional 575,800 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntsman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $799,000. Regents Gate Capital LLP grew its position in Huntsman by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP now owns 463,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Huntsman by 657.9% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,102,000 after purchasing an additional 852,877 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Huntsman from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Huntsman in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Huntsman from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Huntsman from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.41.

Huntsman Price Performance

Huntsman stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $11.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,001,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,599,213. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.24 and a beta of 0.66. Huntsman has a twelve month low of $7.30 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $12.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a negative return on equity of 3.97%. Huntsman’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.0875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -21.34%.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.