Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on EMN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of EMN stock opened at $88.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.87.

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

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth approximately $280,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $656,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 26,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.