Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires Shares of 31,217 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,804,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,904,000 after buying an additional 61,580 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,038 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,978,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $305,258,000 after acquiring an additional 39,860 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,496,000 after acquiring an additional 760,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,357,000 after acquiring an additional 168,009 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $370,814.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,027 shares of company stock worth $10,885,638. Company insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $99.28 on Tuesday. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $68.89 and a twelve month high of $105.98. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.50.

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.