Townsquare Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $101.07 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th 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 Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.86.

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.