Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 40,968 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,605% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,403 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HUN. 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 research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Huntsman from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Huntsman in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $22.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of -44.15 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.77. Huntsman has a twelve month low of $22.14 and a twelve month high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). Huntsman had a positive return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 1.49%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Huntsman will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -192.31%.

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.