HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $374,000 Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup downgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $88.35 on Thursday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $85.84 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.36 and its 200 day moving average is $99.11. The company has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Eastman Chemical 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.