UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 4,006 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,006 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $150,537,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,213,000 after buying an additional 713,272 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Regents Gate Capital LLP purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth $10,235,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $87.09 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $86.50 and a 52-week high of $114.50. 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 (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

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.