Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The basic materials company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06), RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. Huntsman had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS.

Huntsman Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Huntsman stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.33. 3,033,333 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,950,564. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Huntsman has a 1-year low of $22.14 and a 1-year high of $29.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 45.91 and a beta of 1.14.

Huntsman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Huntsman’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Huntsman’s payout ratio is presently 188.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HUN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Huntsman from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Huntsman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Huntsman from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntsman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.55.

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.