Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after acquiring an additional 19,809 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 21.0% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at about $632,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Company insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.69.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN opened at $88.45 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.68. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.