Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.08.

A number of research analysts recently commented on EMN shares. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

EMN opened at $101.32 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.17. The firm has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $83.72 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 62,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,674,000 after purchasing an additional 22,893 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 61,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,581,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 582,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,164,000 after purchasing an additional 110,430 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.