KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 33,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Huntsman during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Huntsman by 174.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Huntsman by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co increased its position in shares of Huntsman by 853.7% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 9,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 8,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the 4th quarter valued at $181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Huntsman from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.25.

Huntsman Price Performance

HUN opened at $15.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.20. Huntsman Co. has a 52-week low of $15.22 and a 52-week high of $26.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 0.95. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. As a group, analysts predict that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -90.91%.

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.