Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 51,823 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,689% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,897 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Huntsman by 177.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 197.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1,717.9% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the first quarter worth approximately $53,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HUN. Citigroup reduced their price target on Huntsman from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Huntsman in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Huntsman from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Huntsman from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Huntsman from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.05.

Huntsman Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Huntsman stock traded down $0.03 on Monday, hitting $8.95. 1,409,908 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,011,368. Huntsman has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $24.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.59 and a beta of 0.64.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.05). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 2.48% and a negative net margin of 5.75%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntsman will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is -51.28%.

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.