Smith Moore & CO. Makes New $229,000 Investment in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Smith Moore & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EMN shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.83.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of EMN stock opened at $75.48 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.67. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $73.78 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

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

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.