Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $961,000 Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.3% in 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. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of EMN opened at $93.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.26.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last three months. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical 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.