Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Short Interest Update

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,320,000 shares, a growth of 17.2% from the March 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Huntsman Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:HUN traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.93. 793,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,980,131. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Huntsman has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $29.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.64.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Huntsman had a return on equity of 1.92% and a net margin of 1.65%. The business’s revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders 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 an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 188.68%.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Huntsman by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,792,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,727,000 after purchasing an additional 904,696 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Huntsman by 115.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 105,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 56,598 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 73,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 4,406 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,889,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,268,000. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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