Vestcor Inc Has $120,000 Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 51.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $91.22 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $86.70 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.80 and a 200-day moving average of $99.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 16.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

About Eastman Chemical

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.