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Investing.com – Huntsman stock (NYSE:HUN) rose 5.3% in Tuesday’s premarket trading on a report in The Wall Street Journal that activist hedge fund Starboard holds a more than 8% stake in the chemicals producer.
The company makes several chemicals that find use in plastics, cars and construction materials.
The stock’s bounce was also benefiting from investors rotating their money out of growth stocks and ploughing that into value shares.
At Huntsman’s market cap of $6.23 billion as of close Monday, Starboard’s the stake is worth around $500 million.
The company’s stock has slightly under-performed the broader market in the last year, rising about 31% against S&P 500’s near-35% gain.
The hedge fund is one of the most visible activist investors on Wall Street, holding seats on the boards of companies like Papa John’s and NortonLifeLock (NASDAQ:NLOK). The changes Starboard is likely to push for at Huntsman are not clear yet, the report said.
In other news at the company, Huntsman said it has formed a joint venture with KPX Chemical (KS:025000) to make specialty polyurethanes in South Korea for supply to the country’s carmakers.
