Sterling Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 57.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,593 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HUN. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntsman by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 10,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 312,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Stock Down 2.1 %

HUN opened at $12.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.60 and a beta of 0.85. Huntsman Co. has a 12 month low of $11.90 and a 12 month high of $25.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.14.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -90.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lowered Huntsman from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Huntsman 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.