Norges Bank Invests $37.46 Million in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,077,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,464,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.20% of Huntsman at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Huntsman by 10.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,488,000 after acquiring an additional 124,841 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Huntsman by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,686,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,529,000 after purchasing an additional 349,502 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in Huntsman in the fourth quarter worth about $569,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,338,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 79,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 63,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Shares of HUN stock opened at $13.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.76 and its 200 day moving average is $19.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.16 and a beta of 0.95. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $12.46 and a 52-week high of $25.98.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio is currently -90.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HUN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.63.

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.