335 Shares in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Bought by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 19.5% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 26.2% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $370,814.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. UBS Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.50.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $100.90. 217,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,008,523. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.11 and a 200 day moving average of $92.86. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $68.89 and a fifty-two week high of $105.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

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.