Duality Advisers LP Takes Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 69,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Huntsman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 523,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Huntsman by 11.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 4.4% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 40,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 1,871 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 $24.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.55 and a beta of 1.12. Huntsman Co. has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $29.90.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.07). Huntsman had a return on equity of 1.92% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is 188.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on HUN shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntsman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.55.

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.