Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.92.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EMN shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $93.22 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 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. 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 3.56%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’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 transaction of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This represents 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 valued at $1,895,948. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at about $632,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.