Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.9 %

EMN opened at $97.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.92 and its 200 day moving average is $100.35. The stock has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.