Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Citigroup currently has $101.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $105.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EMN. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.83.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 5.6 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $75.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $73.78 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

About Eastman Chemical

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.