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

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 9,055 call options on the company. This is an increase of 282% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,371 call options.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE HUN opened at $22.78 on Tuesday. Huntsman has a 52 week low of $19.91 and a 52 week high of $27.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.50.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.44% and a positive return on equity of 0.26%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Huntsman by 1.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,657,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,599,000 after purchasing an additional 97,082 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 5.2% in 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 position in shares of Huntsman by 54.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,151,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,408,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,697,000 after acquiring an additional 203,396 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.56.

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.