Allstate Corp Buys New Shares in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,537,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,213,000 after purchasing an additional 713,272 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in 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 worth $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EMN shares. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $88.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.11. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $85.84 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Eastman Chemical 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.