Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

EMN has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.12.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $94.44 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $94.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.73. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $68.89 and a 52 week high of $102.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,847,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,496,000 after purchasing an additional 760,974 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,047,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 274.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 249,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,375,000 after purchasing an additional 391,848 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1,031.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 333,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after buying an additional 304,155 shares during the period. 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.