Millennium Management LLC Acquires 354,691 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,268,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 354,691 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $40,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $395,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 77,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 4th quarter valued at $3,827,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 13,157 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $12.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Huntsman Co. has a 12-month low of $11.15 and a 12-month high of $25.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.78.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.06) EPS. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -109.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HUN shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America cut Huntsman from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $22.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Huntsman from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntsman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

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.