Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) shares jumped 8.1% to close at $39.65 on February 15, after the global manufacturer and marketer of chemical products delivered a blowout fourth-quarter results and also raised its dividends by 15%.
Robust performances across all business segments driven by higher selling prices and increased sales volumes led to the quarterly beat.
Q4 Beat
Markedly, adjusted earnings of $0.95 per share almost doubled year-over-year and beat analysts’ expectations of $0.91 per share. The company reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the prior-year period.
Revenues jumped 38.3% year-over-year to $2.3 billion and exceeded consensus estimates of $2.17 billion. The increase in revenues reflected a surge across all the segments.
Notably, the company reported the highest-ever adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margins.
Furthermore, ahead of the earnings, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 13% to $0.2125 per share.
CEO Comments
Looking optimistically into 2022, Huntsman CEO, Peter R. Huntsman, said, “In 2022, as we outlined at our Investor Day, we expect to grow earnings further, expand adjusted EBITDA margins and deliver improved free cash flow and cost optimization.”
Detailing the plans for the year, he further added, “This year in the second quarter we will complete our Geismar Louisiana, MDI splitter project which will expand our differentiated Polyurethanes business in the Americas, and we will continue to progress our previously announced investments targeting electric vehicle batteries, semi-conductors, and polyurethane catalysts.”
Wall Street’s Take
Following upbeat Q4 results, RBC Capital analyst Arun Viswanathan increased the price target on Huntsman to $50 from $45 and reiterated a Buy rating.
Overall, the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 11 unanimous Buys. The average Huntsman price target of $44.82 implies 13.04% upside potential from current levels. Shares of HUN have jumped 39% over the past year.
TipRanks’ Smart Score
HUN scores a “Perfect 10” on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.
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