Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Receives $113.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $113.92.

A number of brokerages have commented on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EMN. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 52.6% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.3 %

EMN opened at $91.74 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.27. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.