Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $917,000 Position in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Huntsman were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Huntsman by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,792,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,727,000 after buying an additional 904,696 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Huntsman by 204.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 39,749 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 115.4% during the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 105,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 56,598 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in shares of Huntsman by 6.4% during the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 73,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,406 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Huntsman in the 3rd quarter worth $2,889,000. 84.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HUN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.55.

Huntsman Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of HUN stock opened at $23.99 on Monday. Huntsman Co. has a 12-month low of $22.14 and a 12-month high of $29.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.21 and a 200-day moving average of $24.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.26 and a beta of 1.12.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.07). Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntsman Co. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.68%.

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.