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

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 30,101 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,873% compared to the average volume of 1,526 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HUN shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 5.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,891,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,389,000 after buying an additional 243,821 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,547,344 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Huntsman by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,301,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,905,000 after buying an additional 70,382 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Huntsman by 1.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,055,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,937,000 after purchasing an additional 31,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntsman by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,538,000 after buying an additional 40,330 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of HUN opened at $17.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Huntsman has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $27.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Huntsman will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.88%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -144.93%.

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.