First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Huntsman Corporation $HUN

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 697,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,264,000. Huntsman makes up 2.0% of First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. owned about 0.40% of Huntsman at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Huntsman by 197.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntsman during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Huntsman by 1,717.9% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the first quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1,966.7% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the period. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntsman Stock Performance

Huntsman stock opened at $10.04 on Monday. Huntsman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $7.30 and a fifty-two week high of $20.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.28 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Huntsman Corporation will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -52.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HUN. Zacks Research raised shares of Huntsman from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Huntsman from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Huntsman from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Huntsman from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Huntsman from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.23.

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.