Traders Purchase High Volume of Huntsman Put Options (NYSE:HUN)

Huntsman Co. (NYSE:HUN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 15,037 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 817% compared to the average volume of 1,640 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HUN shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Huntsman from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Huntsman from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Huntsman from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntsman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.43.

Huntsman Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HUN traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.84. 1,128,102 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,923,367. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.61 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.09. Huntsman has a 1 year low of $18.65 and a 1 year high of $27.01.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. Huntsman had a negative net margin of 1.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntsman will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntsman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. Huntsman’s payout ratio is -144.93%.

Insider Transactions at Huntsman

In other news, Director Mary C. Beckerle sold 20,201 shares of Huntsman stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $432,705.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntsman

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HUN. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the third quarter valued at $25,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in Huntsman by 1,250.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Huntsman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntsman during the second quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Huntsman in the 3rd quarter worth about $78,000. Institutional investors own 84.81% of the company’s stock.

Huntsman Company 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.