Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stock Price

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its price objective trimmed by Piper Sandler from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.69.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.4 %

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $88.09 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $98.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.59. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 30.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 52.6% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.