Exploring Huntsman Corporation (HUN) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at Huntsman Corporation (HUN) and wondering why institutional money is flowing in when the broader specialty chemical market is still navigating a tough cycle. Honestly, the investor profile is a fascinating split: nearly 85% of the stock is held by institutional players, and while firms like BlackRock, Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. maintain large passive stakes, the real action is in the aggressive buying from hedge funds and asset managers like AQR Capital Management LLC, which grew its position by 345.7% in Q1 2025, and UBS Group AG, which boosted its Q3 holdings by 83.5%. Why the conviction? It's a classic value play on an operational turnaround, not a growth story yet, especially with the company reporting a Q3 2025 revenue of $1,460 million and a consensus full-year 2025 adjusted loss per share estimated around ($0.63). The bulls are clearly focused on the company's ability to generate cash, evidenced by the Q3 free cash flow surge to $157 million, and the strategic cost-saving plan aiming to double savings to $100 million, even as management made the tough call to cut the quarterly dividend by 65% to $0.0875 to maintain financial flexiblity. So, are these big buyers seeing a deep value opportunity in a cyclical bottom, or is the market's consensus 'Reduce' rating and $10.00 average price target a more defintely realistic near-term view?

Who Invests in Huntsman Corporation (HUN) and Why?

If you're looking at Huntsman Corporation (HUN) right now, you're looking at a classic specialty chemicals play navigating a tough economic cycle. The investor profile isn't simple; it's a mix of patient giants and aggressive turnaround specialists. The short answer is that the vast majority of the company, 84.81%, is held by institutional investors, meaning big money managers are the primary owners.

That high institutional ownership tells you this is not a retail-driven stock. It's a fundamental analysis story. What this means for you is that the stock price movements are defintely driven by large-scale capital allocation decisions, not forum chatter. You need to focus on the company's cash flow and cost-cutting initiatives, not just the daily price action.

Key Investor Types: The Institutional Giants

The investor base for Huntsman Corporation is heavily skewed toward institutional investors-mutual funds, pension funds, and asset managers. These are the long-term holders, the ones who buy in bulk to track an index or for a multi-year value thesis. The top holders in Q1 2025 include behemoths like Vanguard Group Inc. and BlackRock, Inc., who collectively hold massive stakes. They represent the passive money, buying Huntsman Corporation simply because it's part of a major index fund.

But beyond the passive funds, you also see active institutional managers like AQR Capital Management LLC and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP. These active managers are the ones who have done the deep-dive work on the company's fundamentals. They are betting on the management's ability to execute on its current restructuring plan, which aims to reduce the global workforce by nearly 10% in 2025. This is a bet on operational efficiency, pure and simple.

• Vanguard Group Inc.: Top institutional holder.
• BlackRock, Inc.: Significant passive ownership stake.
• Hedge Funds: Smaller, aggressive positions around restructuring.
• Retail Investors: Own the remaining minority stake.

Investment Motivations: Cash, Cost, and Core Assets

The primary motivation for investors in 2025 is a mix of value and income, despite the recent challenges. The TTM revenue for Huntsman Corporation stands at approximately $5.78 Billion USD, but the company is navigating a tough environment, reporting a Q3 2025 net loss of $25 million. This isn't a growth story right now; it's a 'fix-it' story.

Management's focus on cash generation is a major draw for value investors. In Q3 2025, the company generated strong free cash flow from continuing operations of $157 million, a significant jump from the prior year. This cash flow is critical for maintaining the balance sheet and funding strategic capital expenditures, which are projected to be between $180 million to $190 million for the full year 2025. The other key motivation is the dividend, even after the cut. The company reset its quarterly dividend to $0.0875 per share in Q4 2025, which translates to an annualized yield of around 4.1%. For income funds, that yield is still attractive in the Basic Materials sector.

Investment Strategies: Value and Turnaround Plays

The dominant strategy here is Value Investing. Investors are buying Huntsman Corporation because its stock price appears disconnected from the long-term value of its core assets, especially the Polyurethanes and Advanced Materials segments. They believe the current market headwinds-like lower global construction and industrial activity-are temporary. They're looking past the current adjusted net loss of $5 million in Q3 2025.

A secondary, but important, strategy is the Turnaround Play. The company's strategic initiatives-including the European restructuring and the MDI splitter growth plan in the US-are what active investors are tracking. They see a clear path to margin expansion as the company realizes its planned $60 million in cost savings benefits for 2025. This strategy is often employed by hedge funds, who are taking smaller, more aggressive positions. For a deeper look at the company's background, you can check out Huntsman Corporation (HUN): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

The dividend cut, a 65% reduction, was a clear signal that management is prioritizing cash preservation over a high payout, which is a key move for a long-term value strategy. It's a bitter pill, but it protects the balance sheet and allows capital for growth investments. This is a classic move that separates the long-term, patient value investor from the short-term income seeker. The value investor buys the stock on the bad news, betting on the eventual recovery.

Your next step should be to model the impact of the $60 million in cost savings against the projected revenue recovery in the Polyurethanes division to see what a normalized 2026 EBITDA looks like.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of Huntsman Corporation (HUN)

When you look at Huntsman Corporation (HUN), the first thing that jumps out is the sheer dominance of institutional money. As of November 2025, institutional investors-think mutual funds, pension funds, and hedge funds-own an overwhelming majority of the company, holding around 91.33% of the total shares outstanding. That's a huge vote of confidence, but it also means the stock price is highly sensitive to their collective decisions.

This high institutional ownership percentage tells us that the retail investor base is relatively small; the big players are the ones driving the bus here. They aren't just passive holders, either. These firms have the capital and the mandate to influence corporate governance, sometimes pushing for strategic changes or capital allocation shifts.

The Titans of the Cap Table: Who Holds the Keys?

The largest institutional investors in Huntsman Corporation are a mix of passive index managers and active asset managers. Passive funds, like those run by Vanguard Group Inc, buy the stock simply because it's in an index, but active managers, like AQR Capital Management LLC, are making a deliberate, high-conviction bet on the company's future.

The top shareholders, based on recent 13F filings, include some of the biggest names in global finance. Here's a quick look at the major players and their reported holdings from the 2025 fiscal year:

The concentration of ownership among these five institutions is defintely a factor you need to watch; their collective moves can swing the stock.

Recent Shifts: The 2025 Buy/Sell Dynamic

The first three quarters of the 2025 fiscal year showed a clear, but mixed, signal from institutional investors, reflecting the company's navigation of a challenging cyclical downturn. While some funds were aggressively accumulating shares, others were completely exiting their positions. This isn't a unified buy signal, but a battle of conviction.

We saw significant accumulation from a few key players in 2025:

• AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake by a massive 345.7% in Q1 2025, adding 7.7 million shares.
• UBS Group AG increased its holdings by 83.5% in Q3 2025, purchasing over 3.35 million shares.
• Two Sigma Investments LP, a quantitative hedge fund, showed the most aggressive move, increasing its position by 476.5% in Q3 2025 to own 2.84 million shares.

But it wasn't all buying. Some large, well-known funds used the first half of 2025 to completely liquidate their positions. For example, ILEX CAPITAL PARTNERS (UK) LLP and PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP INC both removed 100.0% of their holdings in Q2 2025, shedding over 2.9 million and 1.37 million shares, respectively. This suggests a sharp divergence in opinion on Huntsman's near-term recovery prospects.

Influence on Strategy and Stock Price

The role of these institutional investors in Huntsman Corporation's strategy is critical. With over 90% ownership, they essentially control the vote on major proposals, from electing directors to approving executive compensation. They are the primary audience for the company's strategic updates, like the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Huntsman Corporation (HUN).

Their influence is directly tied to the stock's performance. When a major fund like AQR or UBS buys millions of shares, it creates demand and provides a floor for the stock price. Conversely, the mass liquidations by firms like ILEX and Citadel Advisors LLC, which cut its stake by 51.9% in Q2 2025, put significant selling pressure on the stock.

Here's the quick math on the stock's sensitivity: Huntsman's market capitalization is around $1.48 billion. A single institutional investor selling a block of shares worth tens of millions of dollars-like AQR's $151.98 million position-represents a substantial percentage of the company's total value, so even a slight portfolio adjustment can cause a noticeable price movement. The recent Q3 2025 revenue of $1.46 billion, paired with a negative EPS of ($0.03), shows the company is in a tight spot, and the institutional split between buyers and sellers reflects the debate over how quickly management can execute a turnaround. You must watch the 13F filings closely; they are a real-time proxy for the market's conviction.

Key Investors and Their Impact on Huntsman Corporation (HUN)

You want to know who is buying Huntsman Corporation (HUN) and why, especially with the stock navigating a tough chemicals cycle. The short answer is that the largest holders are passive giants, but the most important buying is coming from deep-value investors like Pzena Investment Management, who are betting on the company's aggressive $100 million cost-cutting plan and a cyclical rebound.

The investor base for Huntsman Corporation is a classic mix of passive institutional funds and active value managers. As of the third quarter of 2025, institutional owners hold a significant portion, totaling over 196,082,927 shares. This means the big players are the ones moving the needle, and their sentiment is tied directly to the company's strategic pivot toward high-margin, differentiated products.

The Passive Giants and Their Automatic Influence

The top institutional holders are the index fund behemoths, whose influence is primarily felt through sheer size and voting power on governance issues, not through day-to-day strategic input. They own the stock because Huntsman Corporation is a component of major indices like the S&P 500, not because of a specific, active stock-picking decision. Still, their votes matter defintely.

The largest holders as of the Q3 2025 13F filings demonstrate this reality:

• BlackRock, Inc.: Holds the top spot with approximately 18,377,328 shares.
• Vanguard Group Inc: Manages the second-largest stake at around 16,357,322 shares.
• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP: A quantitative and passive-leaning value manager with roughly 7,916,836 shares.

These passive funds, while massive, rarely drive strategic change. They are the bedrock of the stock's stability, but they are not the ones pushing for the deep restructuring you are seeing today.

Active Value Investors: The 'Why' Behind the Buying

The real insight comes from the active managers who are increasing their positions. Pzena Investment Management LLC, a notable value-focused firm, has been a key buyer, and their rationale maps directly to the current economic environment. They view Huntsman Corporation as a classic deep-value play, trading at a steep discount due to the cyclical downturn in construction and industrial end markets.

Here's the quick math: Pzena's analysis suggests the stock is trading at roughly 6x their estimate of normal earnings. They are looking past the Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of only $94 million and the Adjusted Net Loss of $5 million, anticipating a substantial recovery. They are buying the company's core MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) business, an oligopoly they expect to grow faster than the GDP over the long term.

Other notable recent moves in Q2 2025 show this active interest:

• QUBE RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGIES LTD added 2,106,774 shares.
• SG AMERICAS SECURITIES, LLC increased their position by 1,762,896 shares.

Activism's Shadow and Management's Response

While the prominent activist hedge fund Starboard Value is not currently engaged in a public proxy fight-they lost their bid to replace board members in 2022-their influence is still a ghost in the machine. Their previous campaign focused on improving margins and portfolio transformation, which is exactly what management is executing now.

The company's strategic actions in 2025 are a direct response to the market's demand for better performance and capital efficiency. Huntsman Corporation is undertaking a major restructuring, including a nearly 10% reduction in its global workforce and the closure of multiple facilities, such as the Moers, Germany, Maleic Anhydride plant, which resulted in a $75 million impairment charge in Q2 2025. This is the company delivering on the 'value over volume' strategy demanded by shareholders.

Even CEO Peter R. Huntsman showed confidence, with insider buying of 87,000 shares for an estimated $996,359 over the last six months, a strong signal to the market. This is management putting their own money behind the turnaround story. For more on the long-term vision driving these changes, check out the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Huntsman Corporation (HUN).

The recent decision to reset the quarterly dividend to $0.0875 per share-a 65% decrease from the prior dividend-is a clear capital allocation move. It conserves cash, which totaled $200 million from operating activities in Q3 2025, protecting the balance sheet while freeing up capital for the restructuring and high-return projects.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

The investor sentiment toward Huntsman Corporation (HUN) is defintely cautious right now, leaning toward a consensus of Reduce, but the high institutional ownership suggests a deep-seated, long-term value play for major funds.

Institutional investors-the big money managers like Vanguard Group Inc. and BlackRock, Inc.-hold a commanding stake, owning between 84.8% and 93.2% of the company's shares. This isn't a retail-driven stock; it's a portfolio-manager's stock. They are buying and holding because they see the long-term potential in the specialty chemicals transition, even as the near-term cyclical headwinds in the chemicals sector are brutal.

The largest institutional holders, as of the September 30, 2025, 13F filings, show the scale of this commitment. BlackRock, Inc., for example, holds over 18.3 million shares. This tells you the smart money is anchored, looking past the current cycle's trough.

The core investor thesis is simple: Huntsman Corporation is a cyclical business, and the current weakness is temporary. These institutions are accumulating shares at depressed prices, betting that the company's focus on differentiated and specialty chemicals will pay off when global industrial demand, especially in construction and automotive, finally recovers. It's a classic value strategy in a deeply out-of-favor sector.

Recent Market Reactions and Ownership Shifts

The stock market has reacted sharply to the company's operational challenges throughout 2025. Following the Q2 2025 earnings announcement, the stock dropped by 6.08%, closing at $9.70, after the company reported an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of -$0.20, missing the forecast of -$0.12. This is a clear signal that the market punishes execution misses in a tough environment. The stock's decline of 55.32% from November 2024 to November 2025 underscores the negative pressure.

The most significant recent move was the company's decision in November 2025 to cut its quarterly cash dividend from $0.25 per share to $0.0875 per share. This 65% reduction, while painful for income investors, was a necessary move to preserve $115 million in cash annually, prioritizing balance sheet protection over shareholder payouts in a prolonged downturn. This action, paired with major firms like AQR Capital Management LLC increasing their stake by 345.7% in Q1 2025, shows a divergence: management is focused on survival and cash flow, while some large investors are aggressively buying the dip.

Analyst Consensus and Forward-Looking Risks

Wall Street analysts are not bullish on the near-term, which aligns with the market's cautious mood. The consensus rating is 'Reduce,' and the average 12-month price target is approximately $10.00. Firms like The Goldman Sachs Group and Wells Fargo & Company have recently cut their price targets to $9.00, reflecting the reality of a slow recovery. They're managing expectations, which is a good thing for you as an investor.

The financial forecasts for the 2025 fiscal year highlight the immediate challenges, but also the expected inflection point. For a deeper dive into the numbers, you can read Breaking Down Huntsman Corporation (HUN) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

• FY2025 Revenue Forecast: Approximately $5.78 billion.
• FY2025 Earnings Forecast (Consensus): Expected net loss of around -$119.7 million.
• Analyst Price Target (Average): $10.00, suggesting a modest upside.
• Institutional Ownership: 84.8% of shares held by institutions.

The risk is that the industrial cycle remains depressed longer than anticipated, especially with persistent overcapacity in Europe and China. The opportunity is that the current stock price of around $8.70 (as of November 2025) is trading well below the average analyst target, signaling a potential 17.37% upside if the recovery materializes as expected. Your action should be to monitor Q4 2025 commentary for any signs of inventory destocking completion and a firming of demand in the MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) market.

Finance: Track the Q4 2025 free cash flow generation and compare it against the revised annual dividend cash requirement of roughly $60 million for 2026.