Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 16,208 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 83% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,842 call options.

Huntsman Stock Up 4.5%

HUN traded up $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.92. 4,663,568 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,148,675. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.25 and a beta of 0.62. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $7.30 and a fifty-two week high of $15.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.64.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Huntsman had a negative return on equity of 4.60% and a negative net margin of 5.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntsman will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.0875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is currently -18.23%.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HUN. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 20.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 56,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 9,720 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 97.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,137,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,748,000 after buying an additional 1,052,127 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 0.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 599,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,463,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Huntsman in the first quarter worth about $680,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 34.5% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 14,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 3,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HUN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Huntsman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Huntsman from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Huntsman from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Huntsman from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Huntsman from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $13.17.

Huntsman Company Profile

Huntsman Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals with headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1970 by entrepreneur Jon Huntsman Sr., the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to establish a broad portfolio of products serving diverse end markets. Huntsman maintains a presence in more than 30 countries, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company organizes its operations into several core business segments, including Polyurethanes, Performance Products, Advanced Materials, and Textile Effects.