Piper Sandler Cuts Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Price Target to $102.00

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its price target trimmed by Piper Sandler from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on EMN. Citigroup lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.69.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock opened at $88.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.59.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 firm posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 30.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.