Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stake Lifted by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 68,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $6,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EMN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 61,580 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 649.8% during the first 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 last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,203,000 after buying an additional 168,038 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 worth $231,357,000 after buying an additional 168,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,199,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,478,000 after acquiring an additional 217,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $97.19 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $105.98.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. Eastman Chemical’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.07.

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.