Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

EMN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $93.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.25. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 44,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,081,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 3,063 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Company Profile

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers amine derivative-based building blocks, intermediates for surfactants, metam-based soil fumigants, and organic acid-based solutions; specialty coalescent and solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; and heat transfer and aviation fluids.