Royal Bank of Canada Raises Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Price Target to $26.00

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report 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 research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a 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 data from MarketBeat, Huntsman has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $26.73.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $25.36 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.97. Huntsman has a 52-week low of $22.14 and a 52-week high of $29.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -48.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 0.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HUN. Norges Bank bought a new position in Huntsman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,761,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 6,496.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,457,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,637,000 after buying an additional 1,435,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Huntsman by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,151,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,198,000 after buying an additional 1,359,437 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Huntsman by 14.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,372,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,678,000 after acquiring an additional 556,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Huntsman by 644.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 378,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,516,000 after acquiring an additional 448,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

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.