Mather Group LLC. Raises Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1,104.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 933,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,560,000 after purchasing an additional 856,432 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,755,000 after purchasing an additional 340,562 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 443.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,716,000 after purchasing an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, 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 value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EMN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $99.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.09. The company has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly 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 16.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

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.