Czech National Bank Buys 1,320 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 52.6% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE EMN opened at $91.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.23.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.