Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) Short Interest Down 10.5% in January

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,260,000 shares, a decrease of 10.5% from the January 15th total of 5,880,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntsman

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Huntsman by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntsman by 1.2% in the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 94,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 14.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntsman by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. 84.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntsman Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of HUN traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.78. 6,685,634 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,881,759. Huntsman has a fifty-two week low of $15.67 and a fifty-two week high of $27.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.52 and a 200-day moving average of $20.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Huntsman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Huntsman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -144.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on HUN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Huntsman from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.63.

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.