BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 277,158 Shares of Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 174.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 436,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 277,158 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.25% of Huntsman worth $7,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Huntsman by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 155,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 35,949 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 739,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,337,000 after acquiring an additional 108,121 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntsman during the fourth quarter worth about $369,000. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 16,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,009,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,194,000 after acquiring an additional 125,595 shares during the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntsman Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:HUN opened at $12.04 on Monday. Huntsman Co. has a 12-month low of $11.15 and a 12-month high of $25.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -10.95 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 3.13%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Huntsman’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Huntsman Co. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Huntsman’s payout ratio is presently -109.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Huntsman from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Huntsman from $19.00 to $13.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America lowered Huntsman from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Huntsman from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Huntsman 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.