Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 21,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HUN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Huntsman by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,376,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,825,000 after purchasing an additional 357,136 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth $897,000. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Huntsman by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 79,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 63,085 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 372,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,722,000 after buying an additional 108,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 31,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 9,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUN opened at $17.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.72 and a beta of 0.95. Huntsman Co. has a one year low of $15.46 and a one year high of $26.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUN. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

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.