Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HUN. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Huntsman from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $12.00 target price on Huntsman in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Huntsman from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Huntsman from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Huntsman from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.62.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN stock opened at $9.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $7.99 and a 1 year high of $16.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.60.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). Huntsman had a negative net margin of 2.81% and a negative return on equity of 3.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Huntsman will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Huntsman during the second quarter worth approximately $193,750,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,950,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003,187 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,817,000. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Huntsman during the third quarter worth $27,935,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Huntsman in the 2nd quarter valued at $23,596,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Huntsman

Huntsman Corporation is a global chemicals manufacturer that produces differentiated and specialty chemical products for industrial and consumer markets. Its products include polyurethane chemicals, epoxy and other advanced materials, and performance chemicals used in applications such as insulation, coatings, adhesives, construction, transportation, textiles, and electronics. Founded by Jon Huntsman Sr. in 1970, the company began as a plastics and packaging business before expanding into chemicals.