Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, KeyCorp Analyst Says

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its price target upped by KeyCorp from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Mizuho increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $101.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.08. The firm has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $81.00 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. 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, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $3,319,000. James J. Burns & Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $741,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after acquiring an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.