Eastman Chemical Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 3,004 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 674% compared to the typical volume of 388 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 349,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,082,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at about $154,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock opened at $88.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.69. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $86.70 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

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.