Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Short Interest Down 10.5% in January

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,260,000 shares, a drop of 10.5% from the January 15th total of 5,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntsman

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Huntsman by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Huntsman during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Huntsman during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

NYSE:HUN traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.78. 6,685,634 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,881,759. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.19. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of -25.76 and a beta of 0.95. Huntsman has a 12-month low of $15.67 and a 12-month high of $27.01. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.63%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -144.93%.

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.