Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $114.08.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EMN. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. James J. Burns & Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $741,000. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $3,319,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 2.1 %

EMN stock opened at $101.32 on Thursday. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $83.72 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.17.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

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.