JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 11.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,517,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 204,403 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $169,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,093,000 after buying an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,435,000 after acquiring an additional 198,645 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.92.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $91.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.21 and a 200-day moving average of $101.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.