Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.31.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EMN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,904,000 after purchasing an additional 61,580 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,139,000 after buying an additional 3,909,740 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in 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 buying an additional 168,038 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,978,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $305,258,000 after buying an additional 39,860 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in 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 buying an additional 168,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN stock opened at $95.38 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $105.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.24 and its 200-day moving average is $93.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.46. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 41.75%.

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.