Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $101.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $105.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Barclays dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.83.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 5.6 %

EMN stock opened at $75.48 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $73.78 and a one year high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after buying an additional 697,388 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,310,000 after acquiring an additional 565,821 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,844,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $259,729,000 after purchasing an additional 284,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,843,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,669,000 after purchasing an additional 109,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

About Eastman Chemical

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.