AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,418 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Eastman Chemical worth $46,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AXA S.A. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 90.0% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 42,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,174,000 after purchasing an additional 20,183 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the second quarter worth approximately $4,547,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter valued at approximately $486,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 60.2% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 22,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 8,468 shares during the period. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth $13,606,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $112.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $68.89 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.18.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.