Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $125.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $102.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 32.36% from the stock’s previous close.

EMN has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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 company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.73. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $68.89 and a one year high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.95%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.